Reformations
by TheWorldsTallestLeprechaun
Summary: An insignificant (warning, not actually insignificant) event results in 2 girls and a panda showing up on the Tendo families doorstep one fateful morning. What spirals out from there will result in canon Ranma-verse being dissected and altered in ways that would make Frankenstein say, "No..." (Warning: Prohibitively rated M for language and saucy implications, but no actual smut.)
1. Chapter 1

Alright, kiddos, here's a tale for ya that I guarantee* will astound and titillate your senses! Be shocked! Be awed! Be completely goddamn confused!

Oh, and if the cursing wasn't a clue, this fic is prohibitively rated M for naughty words, saucy implications, some darker moments and at certain points; a spot of the old ultra-violence. Despite all that, I hope this story is more humorous to those reading than anything else, so expect to laugh more than cry.

Also, I assure those reading that I do not own Ranma ½ or Teen Titans, and I have absolutely no desire to claim otherwise. (Despite the OODLES of money that would send my way…*sniffle*)

:UPDATE: Edited minor grammar errors and subtle language tweaks.

Quick Key:

"Spoken words"

(thoughts)

{Another language, translated}

[Sign Language, nyuk nyuk]

 _Emphasis, or an untranslated foreign word, or words being heard through a medium or at a distance, like an announced through a television/PA system._

And now, _**Avaunt!**_

Reformations Chapter 1

A Girl, a Panda and an Alien all walk into a Dojo

 **-Prologue: 2 months ago…-**

"Stupid old man."

A redheaded girl with a thin ponytail, clad in a dirty karate gi, growled as she sat up in a tree on the outskirts of yet another town she and her father had been run out of. Or rather, had fled from to escape the psychopathic Amazon that wanted to cave in her head. As the townsfolk would be unwilling to shelter a pair of strangers, or rather, a girl and her pet panda when a rampaging martial artist was looking for them; she and her father had beat feet away from the village.

Sadly, the source of Ranma's ire was nowhere in sight, as Genma had insisted they split up for safety. Here, insistence meant Ranma-chan hadn't realized she was alone until she'd finally lost Shampoo, and she had no doubt as to _whose_ safety was being insured by their separation, as the Amazon was only looking to kill her.

As the redhead bemoaned her lot in life and debated running away into the wilderness rather than meet up with her father at the last cave they'd camped out in before their disastrous sojourn into civilization, movement caught Ranma-chan's eye and she looked up in time to catch a shooting star. While not superstitious, she was well aware that certain people found omens or portents in such signs and snorted disdainfully. (Little late to warn me of impending doom, star. What could possibly happen **now** that could trump a freakin' curse?)

The redhead paused, squinting at the shooting star and realizing she could make out a distinct violet color to it. Furthermore, it looked like the star was getting brighter...or rather, coming closer…

 **-Present Day-**

We've seen this song and dance before. A winners of the participation trophy in the 'Father of Year' awards sits down his three daughters and tells them that they've been put into an arranged marriage with the son of a family friend.

"How old is he? Young men are so...immature."

"Is he cute?"

"Ha ha ha ha haaaa…..no idea."

"...excuse me?"

"I've never met the boy."

Cue three girls wearing assorted expressions, all of which amounting to a unanimous [what the hell…] and we shall move on.

 **OOOOOO**

Once again, a familiar scene, with a redheaded, pigtailed girl being chased by a panda through an otherwise quiet neighborhood.

After trading a few blows, which brought quizzical looks from surrounding bystanders who mused that it might be some kind of street performance, the girl assumed a karate stance and declared, "Your move."

Then, a shadow came down the road behind the panda, darting in quickly and before the stunned onlookers can react; the black-and-white bear's head snapped forward as a flying double drop kick hit it flush in the back of its skull and sent its face straight into the asphalt. The perpetrator of the inter-species assault rolled over the collapsing panda and landed next to the redhead, revealing another girl; taller than her companion with pitch-black straight hair that descended past her shoulders, wearing a form-fitting indigo Chinese pantsuit which complimented the girl's violet eyes.

The newcomer's haughty, irritated expression marred her otherwise attractive features, even if the lightly tanned-orange skin would have been considered unusual, except Nerima is an unusual place (in the same way that the ocean is damp), so she merely fell under the heading of 'exotic'. As she glared at the crumpled form before her, her companion said, "Thanks Komie-chan." In a satisfied tone.

"No problem." The dark-haired ambusher offered placidly. "He's had that coming for awhile."

"No kidding," the redhead acknowledged as she picked up a large traveling pack, which clinked softly as she shouldered it and said, "Let's get out of here." before gesturing away from the panda.

"Sounds good to me." 'Komie' agreed as made to follow the other girl. Unseen by the pair however, the panda had pushed itself up and was glaring at the two of them. As the witnesses commented on the bear's impressively thick skull, the panda grabbed a nearby stop sign out of the ground, and with two quick strikes, sent the two girls to dreamland. After hefting their limp forms over each shoulder, the panda snarled at the pedestrians and sent them scurrying before walking away through the now empty street.

 **OOOOOO**

Akane was pissed, and understandably so. Not enough she has to deal with Kuno and the horde, now there's going to be some strange boy living in her house, who she might have to marry? It wasn't fair! At least she had something of a chance to get out of it as her older sisters might end up engaged to the pervert.

Suddenly, the sound of shouting came from the front door and Nabiki jumped to her feet, declaring excitedly, "I bet that's him!" before running into the hall. She was closely followed by her father, who called a greeting to his old friend Saotome while Akane sighed and stood up along with Kasumi. But by the time the two girls reached the corner of the living room, her sister and father we running back towards the pair with fear-stricken expressions, followed by...

Akane did a double take. There was a panda in her house. A panda walking on its hind legs, carrying two people over each shoulder like sacks of rice, albeit very lively sacks of rice that were shouting and kicking the strangely docile animal.

"Cut it out, old man!" A redhaired figure in a black and red Chinese styled pants and shirt combo hollered in a rough, high-pitched voice while trying to elbow the panda in the back of the head. "You're scarin' em spitless!"

"I'll show this fat _rashtru'nakeesh_ scared!" Snarled a black-haired girl who was also wearing Chinese styled silk, save hers was matching in color and design. Despite the finery of her outfit, her words were anything but refined...or at least the ones Akane could understand. "If he doesn't let me go right _X'hal_ -damned NOW, I'm gonna stick a _larborg_ up his _vurthmar_ until he coughs up _mizzlnoks!_ "

While Kasumi and Nabiki commented on the idea of their father's old friend being a panda, which the mustachioed man denied with a swift shake of his head, the bear stopped in front of them and placed its cargo in front of them. The redhead looked away shyly from the Tendo's while the dark-haired girl sighed, crossed her arms and nodded her head in a perfunctory acknowledgement of the family presence.

Soun regarded the girl and her somewhat rude behavior. "Excuse me, miss? You are-"

"Annoyed."

He blinked at the brusque reply and two of the three sisters narrowed their eyes at the disrespectful girl while Kasumi pursed her lips in a small frown. The redhead quietly admonished her companion with a stern, "Komie…"

In response, 'Komie' sighed and straightened up, bowing to the Tendo's. "Sorry. My names Komand'r, I've just had a very rough day today."

Soun smiled, feeling mollified as he replied, "We've all had days like those my dear."

"Oh my," Kasumi tapped her cheek thoughtfully. "I thought you said your friend Genma had a son, not a daughter."

At this, the redhead snorted rudely as the panda 'growf'ed and vigorously shook its head while Komand'r grimaced and spat, "Oh _X'hal_ no!"

The bear and girl then glared at each other in irritation, while Soun turned to the redhead and asked, "Then...you would be?"

"...Ranma Saotome." The redhead answered quietly, before adding a soft, "Sorry about this."

"Oh, he's cute!" Nabiki beamed as she leaned around her father for a better look at the future groom or brother-in-law.

Komand'r grinned at the brunette and nudged Ranma. "Hey, she's got good taste!"

While Nabiki smirked at Komand'r, Ranma grumbled, "You're not helping, Komie." Before Soun suddenly stepped forward and embraced the redhead with an emotional, "It's great to meet you, son!"

Blackfire stared at the suddenly grabby older man and held up a finger in a 'wait a moment' gesture. "Uhh, you _might_ have jumped the gun there, whatever your name is."

While Akane queried, "What's that supposed to mean?" Nabiki watched her father's back stiffen before he stepped away from his future son-in-law. Then the suspicious middle daughter caught Soun's horror struck expression and focused her attention on Ranma...or rather on Ranma's chest, which filled out ' _his_ ' red silk shirt a little too well for a man's pecs.

As she reached out and gave the redhead's chest a squeeze, Ranma blushed and murmured, "Umm, please stop doing that?"

"Or at least buy her dinner first." Komand'r offered with a sneaky grin.

Kasumi matched Ranma's blush and exclaimed, "Oh my!" While a small smile of relief formed in Akane's face and Nabiki yanked her hand away from Ranma's chest with a shocked yell of, " _Her_?!" She then immediately hit her father with a full force glare and angrily remarked, "They're BOTH girls!"

Floor, meet Soun. Soun, meet floor. Play nicely you two.

 **OOOOOO**

The Tendo sisters and their guests were gathered around their insensate patriarch, keeping quiet as they waited for Soun to recover his senses. As they waited, Komand'r eyes occasionally flicked to Ranma and gave her a quizzical, suspicious look.

When Soun awoke, Nabiki was first to lay into him by declaring sarcastically. "Great job, dad! You couldn't have checked if the guy we were supposed to marry was actually a guy first?!"

"When Genma said he had a son, I _assumed_ it was a boy!" Soun fired back in a tone that was strangely powerful coming from a man who'd only recently awoken from a dead faint and was laying on his back.

"Does this look like a boy to you!?" Nabiki sassed as she reached out to grab Ranma's chest again.

Only to be stopped by a hand on her wrist, which belonged to Komand'r, who was sitting on Ranma's opposite side and looking annoyed at the page-cut brunette. "Hey, hands off the goods!"

Nabiki pursed her lips and glared at the dark haired girl, while Akane said, "She's right, Nee-chan." In a remonstrative, but chipper tone as she stood next to Ranma and separated her sister from one of their three visitors. "They're guests, and this isn't their fault."

"Damn right." Blackfire muttered, giving the panda a meaningful, narrow-eye'd look, which brought a dismissive chuff from the beast.

While Nabiki wondered how the animal could've been at fault for this situation, short of being the one who carried Komand'r and Ranma into the house, the redhead jerked as Akane touched her shoulder, and looked up to see the youngest Tendo smiling at her. "My name's Akane. Do you want to be friends?"

Ranma blinked, then visibly brightened while Blackfire looked at the bluenette with interest as the redhead hesitantly answered, "Okay." with a hopeful smile.

 **OOOOOO**

"KIAI!"

With a crash, Akane's hand was buried up to the wrist in the wall of the dojo as she attempted to strike the dodgy redhead. But power means nothing if it can't be placed properly, as Ranma easily flipped over Akane and poked her in the back of the head following the bluenette's inaccurate strike..

Akane slowly turned to look at Ranma, stunned by how easily she'd been beaten, while Ranma gave a slightly nervous giggle. The bluenette soon joined in, and both girls shared a friendly laugh as they let the adrenaline from their sparring match fade.

The moment ended at the sound of clapping from nearby, and both girls turned to see Blackfire where she was leaning against the wall of the dojo. "Not bad, not bad." She mused. "You got a lot of power, but you need to work on your defense a bit."

Akane's cheeks flushed at the critique and hesitantly replied, "I guess I do." as she looked down in an attempt to hide her reddened face.

"Hey, it wasn't that bad." Ranma countered helpfully, apparently worried about offending her new friend. "I've just been practicing for a long time, you know?"

"True, but that just means she needs to work harder." Komand'r advised bluntly.

Akane rubbed her arm in embarrassment, and missed the ugly scowl Ranma shot the dark-haired girl, who looked between the redhead and Akane with an inquisitive expression. The redhead's face shifted into something resembling pleading and Komand'r rolled her eyes. "Sorry. I'm not trying to be harsh. I'm saying there's a goal to shoot for." She chuckled. "Hell, I've been training with Ranma for almost 2 months, and all that means is I can hold my own for about 30 seconds before I get schooled."

"Really?" Akane looked up at the dark-haired girl with a shy smile.

"Yeah, really. And besides, Ranma could teach you how to get better." Komand'r smirked at the redhead. "If she stopped using her old man's methods."

Akane laughed lightly as Ranma looked indignantly at her companion. Before the redhead could retort, she and Komand'r froze as the bluenette sighed gratefully, "Thank goodness you're not a boy."

" _Nani?_ " Ranma blurted intelligently as she looked at Akane's retreating back.

"Well," Akane tossed over her shoulder with a smile. "I don't think I could _stand_ losing like that to a boy." Before leaving the dojo.

As she left, Ranma looked worriedly at Komand'r, who quickly stalked up to the redhead and whispered, "Well, what now, genius?"

"What do you mean, 'what now'?"

" _Obviously_ your brilliant plan to pretend you're really a girl is shot to hell, so what're you gonna do now?"

Ranma's jaw dropped and she exclaimed, "I didn't tell you what I was doing! How did you-" The redhead paused at the deadpan expression on the Komand'r's face and mumbled, "Right, sorry…"

"Yeah, it was a _little_ obvious. And besides that, your plan wouldn't have worked since your old man has probably changed back by now and explained everything."

"Umm, maybe I could say he's senile and I really am a girl?"

Ranma's hopeful smile slowly faded as Komand'r shook her head. "As much as I love a good con, and as _amusing_ as that would be; it's time to suck it up and come clean, Ranma."

Ranma looked worriedly towards the door Akane had left through. "You sure?"

"Trust me, if you don't come clean now, it's gonna be a hell of alot worse when she finds out later." The dark-haired girl leaned in and advised sternly, "And she _will_ find out, considering how much your curse loves to switch at the worst possible moments."

As Ranma swallowed nervously and nodded in acceptance, Komand'r looked at the red head curiously. "What're you so worried about, anyway? I thought you didn't want this engagement."

"I don't!" Ranma declared quickly, before looking down and lightly touching the tips of her index fingers together in a embarrassed gesture. "But...she wants to be friends, and I don't have many of those besides you…"

"Ahh, I gotcha." Komand'r nodded in understanding. Then a slow, wicked smile spread across her face. "So, what kind of _friend_ do you want to bewith her?"

Ranma's cheeks went from zero to tomato red and she squeaked, " _Komie_! I didn't mean like that!"

"You sure? She's kinda cute, and I wouldn't mind if you took her to the rodeo, ' _wild horse_ '."

Ranma covered her glowing face with her hands as she moaned in embarrassment and Komand'r gave a delighted laugh. "Oh my _X'hal,_ you can be _so_ adorable!" Stepping in, the dark-haired girl gently held Ranma's shoulder and smiled softly, "I'm just teasing you, Saotome, I know you're not that kinda guy. But you _do_ need to come clean as soon as possible." Wrinkling her nose, she added, "Speaking of clean, I think you should use the bath to change back."

Ranma looked at the dark-haired girl with a miffed expression, then sighed and said, "Alright. But while I'm doing that, can you find pops and make sure he hasn't made things worse?"

Komand'r snorted. "Please, how could he-"

She stopped herself, and after a moment of sharing a wide-eye'd, expectantly horrified look with Ranma, said quickly and quietly, "Change back quick before that jinx kicks in."

Ranma nodded and bolted out the door while Komand'r walked away, muttering to herself about pushing her luck.

 **OOOOOO**

As she stepped into the house's common room, Komand'r sighed in disgust, seeing the humanized Genma sitting in front of Soun, with twin streams of tears flowing down both men's faces. "Oh good, so you told him?"

"Yes." Genma nodded sorrowfully. "I told him everything."

Soun sniffled and offered a somber, "How tragic…"

Then he paused as the girl his friend had explained was a new student and traveling companion glared angrily at Genma, having been surprised by the sight of faint flickering lights in the depths of her eyes as she growled, "You told him **everything?** "

While Soun wrote off the strange gleam as some trick of the light due to her eye color, Genma paled and quickly shook his head, waving his hands in a placating manner which reminded Soun of their days training with the master as the bald man declared, "No no! Some things would be too _unbelievable_ , and I didn't want to overwhelm him!"

Soun narrowed his eyes at his friend, but before he could ask what would be more unbelievable than a magic curse, Kasumi stepped into the room and asked, "Ano...Otousan? Who is this?"

While Komand'r turned and gave the pony-tailed brunette an appraising look, her slight scowl in disapproval going unnoticed by the others as Soun replied, "This is my friend, Genma Saotome."

"I see. But where is that panda who arrived with his daughter and Komand'r-san?"

"You're looking at him." The dark-haired girl offered in a voice as dry as the Sahara.

Kasumi could only give a confused, " _Nani_?" When a scream echoed through the house, startling everyone into looking around, including Nabiki who had been descending the steps when an impromptu death-metal concert had broken out. As the brunette asked, "What is that!?" The scream began to Doppler as the source moved through the house, eventually manifesting in the form of Akane wearing the top of her karate Gi as she ran out into the front yard and picked up an ornamental stone lantern the size of a large exercise ball.

Komand'r whistled and nodded her head as she recalibrated her assumption on the bluenette's physical strength, then stiffened when she heard Akane snarling, "I'll kill him! Drown him in the bathtub!"

"Akane-chan, what's wrong?" Kasumi asked worriedly as Komand'r grimaced in expectation of pain and futilely hoped she was wrong about what was coming next.

"There's a pervert in the bathroom!"

There was a slap, which drew Kasumi's eyes to their dark-haired guest, who had dropped her head into her hand and was muttering something under her breath that sounded like ' _glorbag_ ' and 'jinxes'.

Nabiki, ignoring the noise in favor of calling out an inconsistency with her sisters story, snarkily offered, "Why didn't you just beat him to death with your bare hands?"

"Because I was scared!" Akane fired back angrily.

Komand'r snorted in amusement, then looked up when a soft voice called the attention of those present. She, along with everyone else, spotted the dark-haired and definitively male heir to the Anything Goes School as he said, "I'm...Ranma Saotome...sorry about this." While scratching the back of his head.

Unlike those who were either dumbstruck or resigned by this announcement, Komand'r regarded the boy with a measure of sympathy while privately quashing the crueler parts of her soul that insisted sympathy was a weakness for _other_ people.

 **OOOOOO**

The three guests were sitting shima on the deck of the Tendo home; Genma in the middle, while flanked by Ranma and Komand'r. Facing them were three inquisitive Tendo's...and one pissed off girl glaring daggers at the shamefaced pigtailed boy.

"Allow me," Genma said impassively. "To reintroduce ourselves." He gestured to his right. "This is my son, Ranma. The heir to the Saotome school of Anything Goes." Then to his left. "This is Komand'r, a traveling companion and my son's first student of the Anything Goes style."

"Otherwise known as _Kurohi_ *, if you don't mind."

Nabiki cocked an eyebrow in interest. "Blackfire? Sounds intimidating."

Blackfire smirked at the middle sister and said, "You have _no_ idea." With a wicked gleam in her eye.

While Nabiki's interest piqued, Kasumi asked, "but, who was that girl who arrived earlier?" while studying Ranma intently.

Komand'r opened her mouth, only to be cut off by Genma as he mused thoughtfully, "It's quite a tale...where do I begin…" which prompted her to look at Genma incredulously, confused as to why the man next to her was trying with marginal success to sound halfway respectable and intelligent. Her expression morphed into pure shock as Genma immediately reached over, grabbed Ranma by the front of his shirt and without so much as a 'think fast', chucked his hollering son into the koi pond.

The Tendo's watched as the pond bubbled, when a mane of red hair broke the surface of the water and the female Ranma they'd met earlier that day shouted angrily, "What the hell did you do that for!?"

"Now he's a girl?"

Kasumi's quiet observation seemed to be the straw that broke the panda's back as Genma sobbed theatrically. "Oh, woe is me! To have a son so cruelly curs-"

Genma's impromptu performance was cut off by a squawk of pain and surprise as Blackfire recovered from her stupefication, and immediately swung her leg like a baseball bat to kick the larger man square in the tailbone, launching him off of the deck and straight into the same pond which contained his son/daughter. Ranma sputtered as she was caught in the splash of her dad belly-flopping inches away from her and shouted, "Hey! Careful, Komie!"

"Sorry, Ranma." Blackfire replied with a snarl as Genma-panda resurfaced like a kaiju from the depths and growled back at her, only to find itself under attack from Moth-Ranma as the redhead obviously wanted to get her licks in. "But that _kwelvu'nash_ had it coming."

As the father and son sparred, Nabiki asked, "How does something like that happen?"

"Allow me." Blackfire grumbled before reaching into Genma's pack and extracting a small, worn booklet. After a few moments of flipping through the pages. She held the book in front of her and began to recite the contents to the Tendo family.

" _Jusenkyo, the Legendary martial arts training ground known as the Springs of Sorrow, a place of chaos and powerful magical curses."_

Nabiki's jaw dropped. (Magic?! Honest to Kami magic!?) before glancing towards the transformed pair with an appraising look in her eye.

" _The waters of the Jusenkyo hold terrible powers, as each spring carries a tragic tale of a creature that drowned within, and now any animal or person who falls into that same pool will be cursed to transform into the departed creature, though appearance and physique can vary wildly between those cursed and the pools in question."_

Blackfire paused to dramatically gesture to the fighting pair and shoot a disgusted look at Genma, who ignored her, before going on.

" _While the curse is not truly permanent, the victims are condemned to switch between their natural and cursed forms when soaked in water or other liquids of certain temperatures. Also, an unspoken aspect of the curse is that the victims become magnets to water, as though a sense of cruel whimsy is present in the magic of the springs and leads to the triggering of a curse at the most inconvenient moments."_

Akane looked from the dark-haired girl and back to the dueling pair, who'd managed to call a truce long enough to climb out of the pond before resuming their brawl. The bluenette's eye twitched at the idiocy involved in the debacle she was hearing about, as well as the idea that the peepshow she'd been an unwilling participant in had been due to some sort of magical coincidence.

" _While Jusenkyo is a landmark and an important part of China's history, involved in the cultural practices of nearby isolated and mythical villages; it would be better for you, dear reader, to never travel to Jusenkyo lest you risk a malicious curse. On the off-chance you end up near the pools, you should find the guide to the springs and listen to everything he says, especially the warnings that you should stay very far away from the pools. It is the recommendation of this guide that if you are suicidal enough to willingly come within a mile of the Jusenkyo, you do so in a helicopter or an airplane and pray a random engine failure doesn't send you into one of the springs, because magic can be a_ _ **dick**_ _like that."_

Kasumi blushed and murmured, "Kurohi-san, language please!"

Blackfire rolled her eyes at the brunette's request as she closed the booklet, having finished reading the passage while the Tendo family absorbed what they'd heard. Nodding her head to Ranma and Genma, she asked dryly, "You get it now?"

Akane muttered, "They fell into the springs? If there were so many warnings, why did these idiots-"

"Idi- _ **ot**_." Blackfire corrected the bluenette with a frown at Genma, and this time receiving an irritated 'growf' in return. "Cause he's the one who got this brochure, complete with a map, and took Ranma to the springs. As for the warnings," Blackfire paused as she caught Nabiki's eye and said, "Catch." Before tossing the booklet to the page-cut brunette.

Nabiki caught the brochure a little unsteadily, and after a quizzical look at Blackfire, opened the first page and immediately blinked. " _Nani_? It's not in Japanese."

"Nope." Blackfire affirmed with a frown, "It's Mandarin, and while I can understand it just fine, I met them about 2 months ago, when they got their curses more than 3 months ago. And no," Blackfire interrupted Kasumi, having seen the older girl open her mouth to offer up a question or insight. "Genma doesn't know a word of Mandarin, but this guide was cheaper than the translated one."

"So they went to the springs and trained?" Nabiki asked with narrowed eyes as she tried to find the hidden dodge. "What about the guide the brochure mentioned?"

"Apparently, he barely finished his introduction when they started sparring on bamboo poles that were growing directly out of the springs. The idiot-" Blackfire thumbed to Genma. "-got knocked into the Spring of Drowned Panda, and was so focused on training he didn't even notice the change. When he jumped back out, Ranma freaked at the change and all Genma saw was an opening to be exploited, so the _panda_ belted him into the Spring of Drowned girl."

"The springs of sorrow…" Soun mused thoughtfully. "Their legend had always been shrouded in mystery, until now."

Blackfire cocked an eyebrow at that, as it sounded like Soun had at least known _of_ the springs before hearing the tale. The alien was distracted from her musing as Akane crossed her arms and asked with forced calm. "And you just _happened_ to start traveling with them a month later? Why?"

Blackfire looked at the younger girl; then back to the fight and smirked evilly before declaring, "Ranma is _Lezoom par'ma._ "

Redhead and panda froze, their expressions mirrored in growing horror which sent up a red flag in Nabiki's mind as her younger sister asked pointedly, "And that is?"

Blackfire looked away from her companions; seemingly missing the looks of fear and headshakes from the girl and panda who obviously wanted her to do anything else _except_ speak, though the malicious quirk to her lips revealed that lie to the sharp-eye'd Nabiki.

"It means…" She paused for a moment, apparently wanting to savor the fear emanating from Ranma and Genma before answering, "he saved my life; and I owe him a debt."

Ranma and Genma-panda facefaulted, with the redhead offering a weak, "Not funny, Komie…"

"We'll have to agree to disagree on that one, Ranma." She chortled wickedly, while Nabiki made a mental note to talk to the father and son's traveling companion later.

When Genma and Ranma got to their feet, they made their way back into the house. After a few steps, Soun came up from behind Blackfire and said, "While cold water activates the curse, hot water turns you back to normal!" And immediately poured steaming water from a teakettle onto the panda's head.

After a second of thrashing, Genma was human again and gasping in mild pain as he declared, "It doesn't need to be _that_ hot, Tendo."

Seemingly unconcerned by this, Soun readied the pot for Ranma, only to have it taken out of his hands by Blackfire before he could scald the redhead. He looked quizzically at the dark-haired girl as she glared at him and set the kettle on the floor next to her. "Do you want to turn him back or cook him? Give it a minute."

"Why didn't you stop him before he got me?" Genma moaned plaintively.

Blackfire's lips quirked in a small, mean smirk as she innocently batted her eyelashes and said, "He caught me by surprise." which earned her a glare from Genma.

The pair's somewhat malicious teasing was interrupted by Soun saying cheerfully, "Well, it's not all that bad then, is it?" As he patted Ranma-chan on the shoulder and gestured to his children. "This is my daughter Akane, she's 16. This is Nabiki, she's 17. And this is Kasumi, she's 19. Pick any of them you want to be your bride, my boy."

Blackfire blinked. And then did so again because during the first one, Nabiki and Kasumi teleported on either side of Akane, with the latter declaring, "He wants Akane!" And the former nodding in agreement as she added, "Oh yeah, definitely!"

"What?!" The bluenette shouted as she looked at her betrayers.

"You'd be a good match." Nabiki said as she smiled in a way that screamed 'better you than me'.

"Yes." Kasumi offered with a much kinder smile. "You hate boys, and Ranma's half-girl."

"Ex- _scuse_ me?" Blackfire glared at the pony-tailed brunette, who looked surprised at the dark-haired girl.

"Me?!" Akane shouted, too lost in her own outrage to register the sudden hostility towards her sibling. "Marry that pervert?!"

"Hey!" Ranma got to her feet. "Who're you calling a pervert!?"

"YOU, you pervert!"

While a good round of bickering broke out, Kasumi asked Blackfire, "Komand'r-san, what is the matter?"

"Half-girl?" Blackfire recited with a scowl. "That's a little insulting, you know. How would you like it if you fell into the Spring of Drowned Man and I went around calling you 'half-boy'?"

Kasumi gave a soft, "Oh my." while Nabiki acquired a target lock on the dark-haired girl for slighting her surrogate mother. Bowing her head slightly, Kasumi declared, "I did not mean to offend you."

"Right." Blackfire rolled her eyes, which made Nabiki struggle to maintain her calm demeanor. "You should apologize to Ranma, not me."

The two girls back-and-forth was interrupted by Akane shouting at the chuckling Genma and Soun, "We're not flirting, we're fighting!"

Surmising what the dunderhead and his new cohort had said to provoke that reaction from Akane, Blackfire said sarcastically, "And as _entertaining_ as it is to watch," before stepping forward and pushing both girls apart, standing between Ranma and Akane and facing the bluenette as she finished. "I think we're done here."

"Done? What do you mean, done?" Akane growled suspiciously.

"Meanin' I'm goin' back to China to find a cure!" Ranma fired off over Blackfire's shoulder. "I ain't got time to be dealin' with fiancee's!"

"Boy!" Genma threw in his two cents sternly. "This is about the family honor!"

Blackfire gave a sharp bark of a laugh and Genma's eye twitched.

"Honor can wait until I'm cured!" Ranma shot back before narrowing her eyes at Akane. "And besides, it's no big deal for me to see a girl naked. All I need is cold water and a bucket."

While Blackfire struggled to restrain herself from blurting out, ("Or me") Ranma turned away from her and Akane and tossed out, "And I'm better built too!"

At that, Blackfire froze. And then slowly turned to look incredulously at the laughing redhead behind her, before returning her gaze to the fuming bluenette. Their previous hostilities forgotten in a moment of sisterhood, Blackfire stepped to the side and gave Akane a clear shot at the oblivious Ranma with a grand, 'after you' gesture.

Akane spared Blackfire the quickest of grateful nods before picking up the kitchen table and smashing her new fiancee underneath it. Blackfire glared at the twitching form next to her and declared coldly, "You _deserved_ that one, _glorbag_."

"No kidding." Genma affirmed with a pitying look at his son.

 **OOOOOO**

Nabiki was running some calculations up in her room, estimating what kind of hit the family finances would take due to having three new guests as well as ways to offset the bills, when a knock at her door drew her attention away from the papers in front of her. "Who is it?"

" _Blackfire."_ the girl declared before cracking open the door and stepping into Nabiki's room, carrying a small traveling pack with a bedroll. Nabiki cocked an eyebrow curiously, both from the intrusion and the strange clinking sound coming from the pack.

"We're roommates now." Blackfire said with a semi-regretful sigh as she found an un-occupied corner of Nabiki's room and set her things on the floor. "Since I don't think you guys want me sharing a room with Ranma or the panda, I picked you."

"Oh? Mind explaining why?"

"Well, I had a feeling we'd get along a little better than I would with your sisters." She smirked over her shoulder. "Unless you don't mind me rooming with your dad?"

Blackfire felt goosebumps form across her flesh as Nabiki gave her a look that chilled the air between them. Despite this, the dark-haired girl chuckled and said, "And that's why I'm not sleeping in his room."

"Right." Nabiki offered as she reined back her fury, although it was a little difficult as she recalled the scene earlier and asked, "So, what's your problem with my sister?"

Taking a moment to straighten out her roll, Blackfire surmised which sibling Nabiki was referring to and said, "Besides calling Ranma a 'half-girl'?" She stood up and turned to face the brunette with a small frown. "Let's just say goodie-goodie nice girls get under my skin."

"I see." Nabiki offered while giving Blackfire a less dramatic, but still hostile look. "Well, you better grow some thicker skin, because if you mess with Kasumi, you'll find out just how **not** nice I am."

Blackfire smiled widely in response to the threat. "See, I knew I'd like you." Before walking over to the desk, only to stop as Nabiki swiftly covered a few of the sheets of paper. "What're you working on?"

"The household finances." Nabiki said coolly.

"Ah." Blackfire nodded in understanding and moved away from her, choosing instead to sit down on the edge of Nabiki's bed and ask, "Rough shape?"

"Rougher now." The brunette replied, after a moment to determine whether or not her new roommate was close enough to read the papers anyway before bringing them out again. "Any plans on how to earn your keep?"

"While I'm _tempted_ to say I shouldn't have to do that, being a guest in your home and all," Blackfire tossed out lazily while ignoring a glare from Nabiki. "Fact is, I'm more of an _associate_ of a guest, so I don't really have as much privilege. And besides, Genma's gonna freeload enough for the three of us, and I'd rather not be held to the same standard as him."

Nabiki nodded, "Fair point. Though, if you don't like him, why do you travel with him?"

" _ **I**_ am traveling with _Ranma_." Blackfire said primly. "Genma just happens to be a bit of extra baggage Ranma is dragging along, though the panda has unfortunately been in the driver's seat for most of it." the dark-haired girls eye's widened as a thought occurred to her and she asked, "Hey, when did you know about this engagement?"

Nabiki, able to easily manage her family's money even with a distraction, replied, "About a half-hour before you guy's showed up." without looking up from her calculations.

"Hmm." Blackfire mused with a thoughtful look. "I figured as much, considering how quickly you tossed your sister out to be sacrificed."

Nabiki's pencil tip snapped against the paper and she resisted the urge to swear as she narrowed her eyes at Blackfire. "And what would _you_ have done?"

"The same thing."

Nabiki blinked, her irritation fading as Blackfire shrugged. "You had no idea what was going on, and suddenly there's a guy in your house with a magic curse who you might have to marry, and you went for the nearest escape route you saw. I don't blame you for freaking out a little bit. Though I have to say you're making a bit of a mistake."

"And why's that?"

Blackfire smiled wickedly at Nabiki and offered, "Ranma is the only man in the world who knows a girl's body inside and out. And believe me," She gave a delighted laugh. "He knows a **lot** about making a girl happy."

Nabiki's eyes widened at the implication, as well as this sudden new information regarding two of their 3 new guests. "You and Ranma...are together?"

"As in, _together_ -together? No." Blackfire shook her head. "We're friends who help each other out, up to and including a bit of mutual stress relief from time-to-time." With a sigh, Blackfire flopped back on Nabiki's bed and groaned, "But _that's_ gonna get shelved now, and it's going to _**suck**_."

Sufficiently distracted from her accounting, Nabiki turned to face Blackfire. "Mind if I ask why? If you're already sleeping together, why can't you-"

"Because, despite what your little sister thinks, Ranma isn't a pervert." Blackfire offered without looking away from Nabiki's ceiling. "In fact, I'm probably kinkier than he is, cause I honestly wouldn't mind if he decided to rock someone else's world for a while."

Nabiki blushed in spite of herself.

"But now he's got a _fiancee_." Blackfire said the last word in a snotty tone. "And even though he didn't pick her, or even _likes_ this whole arrangement, he's too much of a nice guy to cheat on her."

While Nabiki mulled over Ranma and the now grumbling girls relationship, which had apparently been radically altered, she asked, "So...how long have you and Ranma been…"

"A few weeks now." Blackfire said simply. "It took _forever_ to convince him to do the dirty-deed though, he was **so** awkward and nervous that I was almost convinced I was doing a service to humanity by showing him that he had _nothing_ to be worried about."

"What about his dad?"

At that, Blackfire grinned from ear-to-ear and looked over at Nabiki. "The first time, a little call to animal control when we were in Beijing got him out of the way for a few days."

Nabiki couldn't stop herself from laughing along with the chuckling Blackfire, who added, "We broke him out afterward, and he basically dragged us straight here. It was a hell of a time finding ways to sneak away from him after that, but we managed." As the two girls amusement faded, Blackfire pushed herself up on her elbows and asked, "What's with your sister, by the way?"

Nabiki cocked an eyebrow quizzically. "Akane? What do you mean?"

"Hating boys?" Blackfire said with semi-amused interest. "Sounds like there's a story there."

Nabiki smiled thinly at that and said, "That information will cost you, _roomie_."

"Ha! I knew I liked you!" Blackfire declared happily. "Unfortunately, I couldn't pay for that even if I wanted to. The panda always seems to know when I'm saving up and filches it when I'm not looking." Blackfire's voice lowered into a growl. "Need to figure out how he keeps doing that…"

Further banter between the two girls was halted by the sound of a loud slap.

 **OOOOOO**

Ranma sat with his father on the deck, sulking with a swollen cheek while Blackfire sat with the sisters at their dining room table, shaking her head and chuckling quietly. "Seriously? Twice?"

"Hmph." Akane sniffed while ignoring Nabiki's soft laughter as well.

"Well, at least you got to see _all_ of what's on offer with this arrangement!"

Akane blushed bright red, and Ranma's ears matched her hue from hearing Blackfire's wickedly gleeful statement, while Kasumi offered a scandalized "Komand'r-san!" and Nabiki laughed louder.

 **OOOOOO**

Heading up to bed, Nabiki opened the door to her room and paused as she caught a glimpse of a violet-slippered shoe disappearing out of sight, just outside her window. Eyes narrowing, she ducked back into the hall and swiftly made her way to Akane's room, where she cracked open the door and quietly called her sister's name.

"Nee-san? What-"

"Be quiet and follow me!" the brunette hissed before quickly heading to Kasumi's room. Rather than speak, she opened the door widely, catching her sibling as she sat reading a book in her evening gown. Before Kasumi could say a word, Nabiki held a finger to her lips and gestured for the older girl to follow.

Soon, the three girls were outside the door to their guest room, with the younger and older siblings looking curiously at Nabiki as she listened at the door. "Imouto," Kasumi asked quietly, "What are you doing?"

The pony-tailed girl was shushed, which earned Nabiki a reproachful look before she caught the sound of a voice calling, _"Ranma?"_

" _Komie-chan?"_ Kasumi's eyes widened while Nabiki's smiled from ear-to-ear and Akane's cheeks purpled in fury. _"What's going on?"_

" _We need to talk,"_ the girl replied mysteriously. _"Follow me."_

"What does he think he's-"

Nabiki's hand flashed out, covering Akane's mouth as she shook her head rapidly. Despite this, the shark-like smile on her face spoke volumes as she looked at both her siblings and pointed up with a soft whisper of "Roof." Before pointing to her room.

 **OOOOOO**

Moments later, the three Tendo sisters were perched rather precariously on one of the terraces of their home, peering over the edge of the next level above them to watch as Ranma sat down next to Blackfire and asked, "What's going on, Komie?"

"I wanted to know what you think of this situation."

The three sister's eyes narrowed, though Nabiki had to fight back a lecherous smile as Ranma chuckled and replied, "Another lesson? Is now the time?" as she assumed that Blackfire was going to show her not-boyfriend a few more tricks regarding a woman's body.

The Ice Queen was disappointed as Blackfire snapped in a decidedly un-sexy tone, "Damn right it's time for a lesson. Cause I think we're being played."

Ranma sat up at that, eyes narrowing as he inquired, "By who?"

"Who's the only person who knew what was going to happen today? And didn't tell us that this 'prior engagement' with an old friend was an **actual** _X'hal_ -damned engagement until we were only a few blocks away from here?" Blackfire growled. "You're old man is pulling something, and I'm about a hair away from making a panda-skin rug out of him."

"Wait, they didn't know?" Akane blinked quizzically. "But, daddy didn't tell us about this-"

"Until they were almost here." Nabiki nodded in understanding as a few puzzle pieces clicked into place, and she felt a flash of irritation for not returning Blackfire's question regarding Ranma's knowledge of the engagement. "Sounds like daddy gave us more warning then they got."

"It explains why they seemed so upset this morning." Kasumi agreed quietly.

"Do you know what he's pulling?" Ranma frowned. "Cause if it's another one of his schemes, I'll help you beat the snot outta him."

"Unfortunately no." Blackfire shook her head regretfully. "What I got so far says that he wants you married to one of these girls as soon as possible, and he's probably going to be pushing for you to tie the knot before you have a chance to screw things up."

"Hey!" Ranma looked insulted. "Why would _I_ screw things up?! Akane's the one who hit me-"

"After you insulted her, _glorbag_." Blackfire scolded him while lightly bonking him on the head with disapproving frown. "Which you deserved. But I mean screwing up because this engagement is a _trap_ , Ranma. If you drag your feet, you'll get to know the sisters and might decide that you don't want to marry any of them, which is what your old man is trying prevent by springing it on you a the last minute." Blackfire grunted in annoyance. "I just can't see _why_ he's pushing so hard, and I have no idea why Soun would be trying the same thing."

Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi all stiffened, their eyes narrowed in unison while Ranma asked, "Wait, Akane's dad didn't tell them?"

"Not until a half-hour before we walked in the door, so _they_ didn't have any time to wrap their heads around this either. Trouble is, Soun comes off as good guy, if a bit of a wimp, and I just can't see him manipulating his daughters like Genma is doing to us. I might be wrong, of course."

"No, I trust you, Komie-chan." Ranma reassured her confidently. "You're a lot better at seeing people than I am, so if you say he's okay, I'll believe it."

"Doesn't explain why he wouldn't tell his daughters about the marriage ahead of time, though."

"Yeah." Ranma sighed as he flopped backwards again. "I'll bet they knew more about me and pops than I did about them though. I didn't even know there _were_ any other schools of Anything Goes until today!"

"Yeah, your old man plays things way too close to the chest for my liking." Blackfire grumbled under her breath. "Doubly so when he's pulling me into it too."

"Nani?" Ranma looked curiously at Blackfire. "How are you involved in it?"

"I'm with you, ergo, I'm involved." Blackfire said simply, though Nabiki's eyes narrowed as she saw the obvious dodge from the dark-haired girl. What happened next only served to solidify her theory that Blackfire didn't want to explain her 'involvement' in what was happening as she changed the subject by asking, "So besides that, what's your take on things?"

Lacing his fingers behind his head, Ranma closed his eyes and thought to himself. "Well, Mr. Tendo seemed like an okay guy to me too, and his daughters are nice enough...mostly."

His sullen amendment brought a scowl to Akane's face.

"I mean, I thought Akane was nice up until that pervert comment, considering she's the one who walked in on me-"

"Yeah yeah, save it, Ranma." Blackfire waved her hand dismissively. "What's your read on the other two?"

"Well, Nabiki looked like she was okay with the engagement until she found out I was a girl...and she didn't change her mind when she found out it was a curse, sooo…" Ranma looked at Blackfire expectantly. "She's not a lesbian?"

Nabiki twitched violently while Akane quickly muffled a snort of laughter and Kasumi blushed brightly.

"Obviously." Blackfire replied dryly. "Though I wouldn't rule out her being bi. She probably panicked from finding out that magic is a real thing. This doesn't seem like the kind of place where people just accept that out of hand."

While Nabiki's frown deepened at the (correct) assumption on her sexuality, she realized that this 'lesson' was on Ranma's observational ability, and Blackfire was apparently his teacher as she asked, "Well, what else you got?"

"Kasumi seemed really nice, though I'm kinda glad she didn't volunteer for the engagement." Ranma said with a sigh. "Between cooking and taking care of me after Akane hit me and preparing the bath, she kinda acts like a mom, and she's probably busy enough dealing with chores without having something like an arranged marriage putting more stress on her."

Kasumi found herself re-appraising Ranma's character, feeling rather impressed that his hesitation for an engagement between the two of them was due to her needs and responsibilities rather than his own. While she considered ways to repay him for his kindness, perhaps by asking about a favorite dish of his, she noticed the dark look on Blackfire's face and blinked quizzically.

"Well, how'd I do?"

"Lousy." Blackfire almost-snapped at him. "Especially you falling for that home-maker's 'sweet as sugar' act."

Kasumi gave a quiet gasp of shock, the vitriol in Komand'r's voice bringing a deeper sting to her words while Nabiki and Akane both gaped at the dark-haired girl. Then Akane started growling and Nabiki dipped from 'frigid' to sub-zero as she envisioned ways to repay Blackfire's insult on her sibling.

"That little 'half-girl' crack was a break in the mask, Ranma. I guarantee you, that 'nice girl' has got a bad side, and you'd be better off staying away from her."

While Kasumi quickly grabbed the back of her younger sister's dresses to keep them from launching themselves at one of the two guests they were spying on, Ranma looked at his companion with surprise, then sighed and sat up. Reaching out to lay a hand on Blackfire's shoulder, Ranma advised quietly, "Komie-chan...I think you're seeing something that isn't there."

Blackfire scoffed. "Yeah? Who's the expert here, Saotome?"

"You're good, I'm not sayin' you're not." Ranma admitted before adding softly, "But not every nice person is like your sister."

The Tendo siblings paused at that, sudden curiosity staying the younger siblings hands while Blackfire flinched before looking away from her companion and grumbled, "Way to stick the knife in, Ranma."

"Komie, give her a chance, okay?" Ranma's hand shifted to her other shoulder and he drew her into a gentle embrace, letting her rest her head on his chest while he laid his cheek against her hair. "I don't want you getting angry over something that might not be there."

"Oh my." Kasumi whispered with gentle concern. "Is that why she was upset with me?"

"It explains why 'nice girls get under her skin'." Nabiki mused aloud before noticing the curious looks her siblings were giving her. "That's what she told me earlier."

Akane looked back to the pair and felt a flash of betrayed anger, and a deeper feeling of something else that made her outrage grow as she snarled, "Yeah, well she's not much better, the tramp!"

Nabiki smirked at Akane as she recalled what Blackfire said about her and Ranma's relationship. "Why do you care, Akane-chan? After all, he is a 'pervert'."

The bluenette glared at her sister before looking back to her unwanted fiancee as he cuddled with another woman, as the hussy he'd arrived with nodded in acceptance of his words. "Alright, Ranma. I'll give her a chance, for you."

"Thank you, Komie-chan." Akane's eye twitched as Ranma gently kissed the top of Blackfire's head before letting her pull away while he asked, "So, what else did you see?"

"Well, the middle sister is a lot like me."

"Does that mean it's too late to start runnin'?"

Akane's anger abated just long enough to let out a giggle before she could stop herself, and she grinned smugly at Nabiki while Kasumi politely covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes twinkling with amusement at their suddenly growling middle sister. Nabiki's irritation eased as Blackfire elbowed the chortling Ranma sharply in the ribs and said, _"Glorbag."_ albeit in an affectionate tone before going on. "Anyway, I saw her running the families books in her room, so she's pretty smart and money-minded. But I'd watch my wallet around her, and _don't_ make any deals with her before asking me, got it?"

"Why's that?"

"I asked her why Akane over-reacted to you walking in on her in the bath, and she was gonna charge me for the information."

Kasumi and Akane both looked disapprovingly at Nabiki, who made a show of being completely unconcerned with their response to her money-making techniques.

"But the sneaky grin she had told me that whatever your new fiancee's reason is, it's probably public knowledge and we'll find out ourselves soon enough."

Now Nabiki looked concerned, and internally cursed at being seen through by one of their new visitors. Apparently, Blackfire was as good at reading people as she was...maybe better.

Then, Blackfire straightened up, her expression and tone becoming deadly serious as she commanded, "But Ranma, the first thing you need to do in the morning is _apologize_ to your new fiancee. I don't care where, I don't care when, and I don't care whose fault it was; you man up and say you're sorry, got it?"

The three sisters blinked at that, while Ranma looked confused and asked, "Jeez, what's with you all of the sudden?"

"Ranma, you need to be _very_ careful around that girl." Blackfire advised sternly as she poked him in the chest. "Because everything I've seen so far screams to me that she's _scared_ of you, and you need to correct that as soon as possible."

Akane's face contorted in fury at the slight on her emotional state, even though she'd admitted to such after their surprise first meeting. As Nabiki and Kasumi grabbed her shoulders in a precautionary measure, Ranma chuckled disbelievingly, "Scared? She doesn't like me, sure, but that doesn't mean-"

"Ranma, the way she reacted in the bathroom was because she thought you were going to _attack_ her."

To the three sister's surprise, the somewhat obvious if grim statement caused Ranma's eyes to widen and the color to drain from his face as he whispered, "She...what!?" in quiet horror.

"That was not, 'A strange guy saw me naked', Ranma." Blackfire said seriously. "That was how a girl reacts when they're scared that a strange guy is going to do **more** than just look at her; and as hard as she blew up at you, I'll bet you 10000 yen that she's very good reason to be paranoid about guys like that."

Akane blinked, stunned by this relative accuracy on what she felt was a thoroughly justified bit of pervert smashing. Though the phrase _justified_ seemed to fade as Ranma went into a panic and stammered, " _Masaka_ , Komie, what do I do!? I'd never-I wouldn't-"

"I **know** you wouldn't, Ranma." She said consolingly. "But she just met you, so she's going by past experiences with guys. When you take her reaction with how she 'hates boys' it's obvious her past experiences have not been good ones." After a moment to let her theory sink into the pigtailed boy's mind, Blackfire added, "If it makes you feel any better, I'm almost certain she's had to deal with a stalker rather than a guy getting physical with her."

Akane's jaw dropped while Kasumi's looked sadly at her little sister, well aware of Akane's recent trials at school but not truly realizing what the long term effects could have been until now as she whispered quietly, "Akane-chan…"

Before the bluenette could respond to Kasumi, Nabiki breathed, "Holy crap, she's _good_!" in awestruck reverence, which earned her a reproachful look from her siblings while Ranma asked, "What makes you so sure?"

Blackfire held up a finger. "First, her sister charging for the info. Unless she's a complete psychopath, she's not gonna offer up details on an attack like _that_ with a shit-eating grin." another finger came up. "Second, when you were sparring with her, she had holes _everywhere_ and if she had personal experience with a _vash'truka_ , her defenses would be damn near flawless."

"Dammit…" Akane muttered sullenly, feeling like she was being dissected even as she started thinking on how her experiences with Kuno and the Horde had done more than merely make her 'hate' boys. Or rather, where that hate was coming from.

Ranma looked away from his friend and adopted a thoughtful expression. "You're right. She's got power, but puts way too much emphasis on it rather than her form. If I didn't know better, I think she spends most of her time breaking bricks rather than doing kata's."

While the bluenette twitched in indignation, Blackfire queried, "How do you know that?"

"The skin of her knuckles had faint scars on them. The thing is, she's obviously _had_ some training, cause if she didn't know how to break bricks properly, she'd have bony knots in her knuckles from bad breaks that healed wrong."

Blackfire shook her head and gave a dry laugh. "Figures, you're dumb as a rock unless martial arts are involved, then you're a genius."

"Hey!"

"But that's good, cause that pretty much confirms the stalker theory, and also says that she's probably _still_ dealing with the problem." Blackfire smiled evilly. "She wants to be good and strong so when she finds the creep, she can make him hurt _really_ good for perving on her."

"Except you know who the creeps are," Nabiki said quietly with a sympathetic look to her sister. "They just don't care about getting hurt."

"That cause I haven't found out just how much I have to pound them so they'll leave me the hell alone!" Akane spat with an ugly look.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Ranma's low growl brought the two sisters from their tete-a-tete to see him looking off into the middle distance with an ugly scowl. "What should we do about it?"

"First, _we_ are not doing anything until you apologize. Second, if she's still dealing with a stalker, the best thing to do would be to help _find_ the creep and then let Akane handle it herself." Blackfire smiled evilly, and Nabiki's eyes narrowed as the moonlight reflected off of Blackfire's eyes in a way that almost made them look like they were glowing. "Cause if she's been stalked long enough, she's gonna want a _lot_ of payback, and cock-blocking a well-deserved beatdown would just be mean."

While Kasumi winced at the extremely crude phrase, she understood and somewhat approved of the sentiment as Ranma nodded in agreement. "I can see that. But do you really think she'll accept my apology?"

"Definitely, but that's just step one. Step two is to be yourself so she knows you're not the kind of guy she thinks you are, and what happened was an accident." Blackfire adopted a mockingly concerned expression, like a kindergarden teacher speaking to a problem student as she added, "Now, I know this next part is gonna be really hard for you, but you need to have some patience with her, Ranma."

"Hey, I'm plenty patient!" Ranma declared vehemently.

"Of course you are," Blackfire offered with a disbelieving, cheeky grin. While Ranma shot her a dirty look, she went on. "But since the girls didn't know about this engagement either, she'll might be a little hostile towards you. So, if she gets snippy-"

"-It's because she's pissed off at the arrangement like I am." Ranma finished his friend's sentence with a nod.

Akane's mouth turned down in a slight frown, thinking on what she was hearing from a boy who she was feeling a strange sort of...appraisal towards. Like she wanted to see just how _much_ of a pervert he was before lumping him in with the other boys she knew, on the off-chance that he was less of a hormone-addled idiot than they were.

Of course, that sentiment was well and truly dashed when Blackfire grinned wickedly at Ranma and teased, "I told Nabiki about us, by the way."

Kasumi and Akane's eyes widened, the bluenette rounding on her sister as she hissed, " _US!?_ What _'us'_?!"

"You did _what?!_ "

Akane looked back to see her fiance sitting up again and gaping at his 'student' in slack-jawed horror. "Komie, why would you _do_ that!?"

"Cause there's no point in hiding it." Blackfire shrugged. "It's not like they haven't already guessed why I was traveling with you and your dad, and I'd rather have them know I was sharing a bed with _you_ than guess I was sleeping with your dad. Plus, you're probably gonna call off the rodeo now that you're engaged."

Akane's jaw dropped while Kasumi gave a quiet, "Oh my!" Through rosy cheeks. "Th-they're lovers?!"

"Friends who help each other relieve stress." Nabiki whispered out of the corner of her mouth without looking away from the pair. "And apparently she wouldn't have cared if Ranma relieved someone else's stress too."

Kasuki blushed brightened and Akane growled, "Oh she _wouldn't_ , would she?"

"Nope. Your new fiancé though…"

As if on cue, Ranma reached out and gently held Blackfire's arms as he said consolingly, "Sorry, Komie-chan. Even if I didn't want this engagement, my family and Akane's honor is at stake, and I'm not going to go behind her back."

"I'd say I wish I didn't know you so well," Blackfire sighed as she lowered her eyes. "But I'd be lying."

With a regretful sigh, Ranma pulled the dark-haired girl into a gentle hug consoled her gently, "It's okay, Komie-chan. If something happens and this thing blows up in pops' face, then I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Akane, while angry at finding out her new _iinazuke_ **was** a perverted lech who'd brought his _girlfriend_ to their home, found herself far less furious than she'd expected as everything she'd seen and heard so far painted a...somewhat flattering picture of Ranma's morals, despite him being a _boy_.

Of course, her opinion of Blackfire was on a downward slope, and nearly went into freefall as the dark-haired girl smirked in a lecherous way and said, "Oh ho? Should I rent a hotel room now, then?"

Ranma blushed and said, " _No_!" Before declaring more calmly. "I mean, I wanna give this a _chance_ before that happens. Me and Akane could end up being friends, even if we ain't off to a good start."

"There you go with that friends thing." Blackfire chuckled and shook her head. "You seem to be forgetting that _I'm_ your friend too, and she probably has a very different definition of that than I do."

"Tramp…" Akane growled under her breath, prompting a smirk from Nabiki and a reproachful frown from Kasumi.

"Although, if you _do_ become friends with her…"

Seeing the evil smile spreading across Blackfire's face, Ranma groaned and turned her down with a well-practiced, "No, Komie."

"Aww, come on! I already said I don't mind sharing, and if she's down for it-"

Akane gave a full-body twitch at the implication while Kasumi's face reddened like a space heater and Nabiki swallowed down a case of the giggles as Ranma shouted, " _No_ , Komie! There's no way in Hell she'll agree to that and all that would do is make things worse!"

"You are _no_ fun, Ranma." she grumbled for a second before wheedling, "What if I ask her about you going behind her back? If she doesn't mind us sleeping together, _then_ could we still fool around?"

Ranma gave a derisive laugh. "Okay, why not? If Mt. Fuji erupts, the moon falls into the ocean, or Akane says it's okay for you to sleep with me, then it's fine by me."

"Th-th-those _perverts!_ " Akane snarled angrily. "How could they think I would agree to that?!"

"That's kinda the point he's making, Sis." Nabiki offered dryly.

Akane growled in response, when Blackfire suddenly shifted positions and the bluenette watched in appalled shock, along with something else that wasn't nearly as unpleasant as those other emotions as violet-eye'd girl swung her leg up and over both of Ranma's so she was sitting in his lap and facing him. Bringing her hands up to gently hold the back of his neck, Blackfire asked gently. "Hey, Ranma? Even though you're engaged, can I still kiss you?"

Akane tensed up, only to relax slightly as Ranma frowned and said, "That's a thin line to cheating, Komie."

Blackfire looked utterly crushed by that, but that changed when Ranma's hand came up and gently curled a finger under her chin as he whispered softly, "But if it makes you feel better, then yes, we can." A second before his lips met her's.

"Th-that, that pervert!" Akane snarled as her unwanted fiancee kissed another woman.

"Wow." Nabiki added as Blackfire moaned appreciatively into her possible brother-in-law's mouth, obviously enjoying herself as her arms slipped around his neck.

"Oh my…" Kasumi whispered with a flush as the young man's hand slipped away from Blackfire's chin and gently held the back of her neck, caressing the sensitive skin of her throat in an experienced way that briefly made the older Tendo reconsider her stance on younger men, if not the engagement as a whole.

After a few moments, Blackfire and Ranma broke their kiss, though not their embrace as they smiled warmly at one another. "Dammit, Ranma, why you gotta do that to me?" Blackfire murmured huskily.

"Do what?" Ranma asked with a smug grin that said he knew damn good and well what he was doing.

"Kissing me like that," She mewled plaintively. "Now I'm all hot and bothered, and I can't take the edge off! Can we just have a quickie somewhere?"

"No, Komie." Ranma shook his head, though a little smirk formed on his face as he added, "Although, if it's really that bad, I suppose I can help you out."

3 pairs of eyes widened to comical proportions while a joyful smile lit up Blackfire's face. "Seriously!? What happened to not cheating?!"

"I already said I'd make an exception for kissing," Ranma replied in a breezy tone that screamed shenanigans were on his mind. "And that's all I'm gonna do."

Nabiki's jaw dropped as the sound of a cash register dinged inside her head and Kasumi wondered if her cheeks were going to be bruised from how hard she was blushing. Akane however, felt a lance of confusion twist through her outrage as she wondered what kind of perversion Ranma was planning.

"Oh really?" Blackfire murmured seductively. "Does that mean I can kiss you?"

" _That_ would be cheating," Ranma stated definitively. "This is just me helping you out." Looking away thoughtfully and admitting, "Well, it's probably helpin' Nabiki too."

Nabiki blinked at that as Blackfire asked, "How's that?"

"If I don't help 'take your edge off'," he answered magnanimously, "She's never gonna be able to sleep listening to you do it yourself."

Blackfire laughed. "Come on, Ranma, I wouldn't make her listen to that!"

"You wouldn't?"

"Nope, cause I'd seduce her and get her to do it for me!"

Nabiki flushed at that while Akane gripped the edge of the roof she was peeking over hard enough that the tiles started cracking. The sound of those tiles snapping into pieces was covered up by the same thing that caused it, namely the fact that Ranma suddenly rolled over and pinned Blackfire underneath him with a serious expression, though his amused tone made it clear he was anything but serious as he declared, "Okay, now I **really** gotta keep you from causing trouble!"

"Come on, Ranma, trouble can be _fun_!"

"Not the kind you're planning." He replied with a fake grim look, which turned into one of gentle affection as he said, "So I better give you a _good_ kiss, neh?"

"Damn right." The wickedly grinning Blackfire chirped happily while pulling her shirt off, revealing her braless chest to the night air as she heatedly declared, "So get to it, _stud_."

"What are-"

To the bluenette's surprise, it was Kasumi who silenced her this time, quickly slapping hand across her mouth before the irate tomboy revealed their presence to the duo. The homemaker was completely silent, ignoring with wicked grin and shocked looks from her siblings as she committed every moment of the ecchi scene to her memory, fighting back the urge to pray gratefully as Ranma kissed Blackfire again, and sent his hands to work caressing the dark-haired girl's body while his lips slowly migrated downwards….

 **OOOOOO**

Genma and Soun both took a sip from the saucer of sake, and looked contemplatively out at the Koi pond while they sat on the household's deck. The two of them let the silence fill the air for a moment until Soun declared, "I see what you meant by...overwhelming."

"Indeed, old friend."

"It is a bit much to take in. But it doesn't change the fact that she is a guest in my home, as well as you and your boy." Soun side-eye'd Genma. "As long as she and your boy understand that my daughter's honor is more important than their...dalliance."

"Trust me, Tendo." Genma chortled. "I didn't raise my boy to be a cheater."

 **OOOOOO**

As Ranma's head passed Blackfire's navel, Akane realized exactly what he had meant by 'kissing', and it was only because her fiance and his girlfriend were _distracted_ at the moment that they didn't notice the glowing blaze of feminine rage which was in danger of burning through the roof as she sputtered, "He...he...he's…!"

"Akane...can I be his fiancee? Please?"

Akane whirled and gaped at her older sisters, specifically Nabiki, who had spoken and was staring with wide eye'd amazement and a slight half-smile curving up one corner of her lips, while Kasumi was slack-jawed in shock at the sight of her little sister's fiance getting ready to dive between another girl's thighs.

Shaking her head with a low growl, Akane looked back in time to see Ranma cross the rhinelands of Blackfire's waistline and her fury returned. Albeit, now she could feel a different sort of heat that only seemed to amplify her outrage at the 'not-affair' in progress.

 **OOOOOO**

"Be that as it may," Soun went on, blissfully unaware of the venal sin being committed on his roof. "I have a plan to bring Ranma and Akane closer, and I believe it can easily be adapted to create some distance between himself and Komand'r."

"Oh?" Genma looked at his friend. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, Ranma has spent his life training, and a young man needs to have a good education in this day and age." Soun grinned. "I'll call the city council to see about getting the boy enrolled in Akane's school first thing in the morning."

"Excellent idea, Tendo." Genma agreed happily. Then he pursed his lips in a thoughtful expression. "However...I don't see him abandoning a friend needlessly, and Komand'r may take opportunities to visit him at school...unless…"

Soun looked at his friend curiously. "Unless what?"

A slow smile formed on Genma's face. "Unless we find some way to 'distract' Blackfire so she can't interrupt his schooling."

 **OOOOOO**

It was only pure luck that saved Ranma and Blackfire from being exposed to the conversing fathers, and the neighborhood at large as the dark-haired girl had scrabbled for her discarded top and only barely managed to cover her face before letting out a muffled scream that would have woken easily half of Nerima.

The Tendo sibling's responses varied according to their own proclivities on what they had seen. Akane wasn't sure if she should end the engagement, smash Ranma and Blackfire into a paste, find a quiet spot to... _meditate_ on what she'd seen, or do some combination of all three.

Kasumi was regretting her short-sighted belief regarding the inexperience and immaturity of younger men, as Ranma had played Blackfire's body like a harp and apparently didn't mind ending their encounter without receiving relief for himself.

Nabiki was re-aligning her estimates of Ranma's personality, thinking that the young man **had** to be some kind of sadist, judging by how he'd had the swaggering and self-confident Blackfire whimpering helplessly and begging him for relief within moments of his lips disappearing from view. The fact that he'd ignored the girl's cries for mercy for so long only solidified Nabiki's belief that Ranma was some kind of cruel torturer, though when she saw Blackfire's reaction to finally being put out of her misery, the middle Tendo wondering just how much it would take to experience the pig-tailed boy's tender mercies as well.

"Oh _X'hal…_ " Blackfire panted as Ranma pulled his head away nethers and crawled up until he was laying on his side next to her with a triumphant grin. "Ranma, what _was_ that?"

"I thought it up a few nights ago," he answered in an overly casual tone. "And figured you'd like it."

"I am...a hair away from running away with you right now, engagement or not." She moaned helplessly. "Especially cause I know why you did this…"

Ranma blinked. " _Nani_? You asked-"

"If we could still kiss." She interrupted as she turned her head towards him and smiled knowingly. "You _offered_ to make my toes curl and I wasn't gonna turn you down; but you did it because we can't sleep together, didn't you?"

The tide of hormones being beaten back by the show mostly being over, Nabiki's inquisitive mind returned as she thought (didn't they just establish that they won't be sleeping together?) while Ranma grimaced apologetically. " _Gomen_ , Komie-chan, I just-"

"It's okay, Ranma." She reached up and gently rubbed his cheek with a grateful smile. "I appreciate the thought even more than the consolation prize, and it's why I'm glad we're friends."

Smiling at her touch, Ranma replied happily, "Me too, Komie-chan." Before leaning down and giving her a light, lingering kiss.

Nabiki tapped her siblings on their shoulders and nodded her head back towards her window. Akane and Kasumi nodded in agreement and followed her.

 **OOOOOO**

Back in Nabiki's room, Akane almost immediately snarled, "That _pervert_!" With greater vehemence than she ever had for Kuno and the horde as she paced back and forth across her sister's carpet. "How could he do... **that** to some hussy in our home?!"

"Technically, they _weren't_ in our home, they were on it."

Akane glared at the grinning Nabiki, who was leaning against her desk, while Kasumi sat on the edge of the middle Tendo's bed and murmured, "It was most improper," with a heavy blush. "But, I do not believe they will continue their...relationship, and I think Ranma-sa- _kun_ will be good for you, Akane-chan."

Akane gaped wide-eye'd at her sister. "Nee-san!? What are you saying?! He just-"

"Helped out a _friend_ , who's apparently going to be lonely now that they aren't sharing a sleeping bag." Nabiki said in a matter-of-fact tone. "He didn't know about this engagement for any longer than we did; He's **really** dense on social cues or people's personalities."

Akane and Kasumi carefully maintained a neutral mask as Nabiki's eye twitched, all three of them recalling the pigtailed boy's comment on the middle sister's sexuality.

"Walking in on you was an accident, and he didn't argue against apologizing. Plus," Nabiki smirked. "He ain't selfish, and he's _very_ talented. All told, I agree with Kasumi-nee; being his fiancee will be...interesting; but if you at least try to be friends with him, like you asked when he-slash-she showed up, you'll be better off for it."

Akane scowled, though a flash of Ranma's absolutely horrified expression when Blackfire told him that she was afraid of him came to her mind. She crossed her arms and huffed, "Well, if there's any more _accidents_ , he's getting smashed!"

Kasumi sighed while Nabiki rolled her eyes, but the sudden knock on the door made all three of them jump and Nabiki quickly called, "Who is it?"

" _Your new roomie."_ Blackfire said before striding in with a wide smile on her face and a spring in her step which had been lacking up until this point. Well aware of why their new guest was happy as a clam, the sisters reactions varied from a slight blush to a subtle smirk and lastly an annoyed glare.

"Where were you?" Akane asked pointedly. "The bathroom?"

"Nope." Blackfire replied easily with a wicked grin. "But why're you asking me when you know exactly where I was?"

Now the sisters reactions were completely in sync, and Blackfire's grin grew even bigger at their expressions of wide-eye'd shock as she looked at Akane. "You need to learn to be quiet when you're spying on someone, Akane."

"You...you…"

Blackfire shrugged in a smug, unapologetic fashion. "I wasn't planning on Ranma _kissing_ me like he did, but I don't care about having an audience and I sure as hell wasn't going to turn him down."

"He didn't notice us?" Nabiki offered.

"In case you didn't realize, miss 'not a lesbian'." Blackfire enjoyed seeing Nabiki's eye twitch at that statement. "Ranma's not the most socially aware guy, but I'm trying to help him out with that. I just wanted you three to realize where he honestly stands on this engagement."

"And you were being honest too, Komand'r-san?" Kasumi asked quietly, her blush fading as she watched the dark-haired girl with concern.

Blackfire narrowed her eyes at Kasumi, which made Akane and Nabiki's hackles rise before their guest looked away from the older girl and mutter, "Yeah. I was."

"I see." Kasumi bowed to her and said, "I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot, Komand'r-san."

Blackfire blinked in surprise at the olive branch, when her attention was caught by Nabiki asking, "So, what's this about your sister being-"

"Imouto!" Kasumi chided Nabiki gently. "That is Komand'r-san's personal business, and we shouldn't pry!" Satisfied that her sibling would drop the subject, the homemaker returned her attention to Blackfire. "You are still a welcome guest in our home, Komand'r-san. And I hope you will come to trust me when I say I care about my family, and my statement regarding Ranma-kun was a...rude mistake, and I will apologize to him as soon as possible.

Blackfire eye'd the brunette for a few more moments before nodding her head and saying, "Alright then, I believe you." And then turning her attention to Akane. The bluenette stiffened as her instincts warned her of a sudden tense atmosphere in the room. Like the build-up of static before a thunderbolt, or silence of war drums before a charge as Blackfire stepped up to her and locked her gaze.

"Let's get something straight, Akane. The only reason I'm not pushing for Ranma to get the hell out of here is that I'm curious what the panda's endgame is, and because Ranma hasn't had _anything_ resembling a friend besides me since he was 10, and has _never_ had a girlfriend before I took his shrinkwrap almost a month ago." Akane's cheeks reddened in anger and embarrassment as Blackfire went on. "I'm only one woman, and he needs more than just me to make up for being raised by a stupid panda, and he's still willing to be friends with you. If that's all you'll be to him, I'm fine with that. Hell, if you two end up dating, I won't object; though I will be asking for rodeo privileges from time-to-time."

Akane blushed even harder as she recalled the 'stipulation' Ranma had given his friend regarding further intimacy, then blinked as she swore lights flickered in the depths of Blackfire's eyes, like matches at the end of a long tunnel as the dark-haired girl said with deadly seriousness, "But if you hurt him, or break his heart? I'll break your legs, and then I'm gonna screw him so hard he'll forget you ever _existed_. We clear?"

Despite the intimidating aura being given off by the purple clad girl, Akane's stubborn side showed through and she growled, "And if he hurts _me_?"

Blackfire shook her head at the bluenette's bloody mindedness. "If Mount Fuji erupts or the moon falls in the ocean or Ranma hurts you, then I'll break every bone in _his_ body."

Blackfire savored Akane's involuntary snarl at the callback to Ranma's promise regarding getting his fiancee's permission in order to continue their trysts, and smiled as the bluenette offered a terse, "Fine. Good night, Blackfire." Before walking out the door.

Kasumi soon followed after offering a polite, "Sleep well, Komand'r-san." To her guest.

Blackfire watched the pair go, before turning back to Nabiki, who asked, "Why the 'consolation prize' about you two not sleeping together?"

Blackfire pursed her lips. "I had a...close family, in that we didn't have many beds and tended to sleep together all the time. In fact, sleeping alone was our version of being grounded."

"I see." Nabiki nodded in understanding.

"You guys might regret this new arrangement though," Blackfire added with a frown as she moved over to her sleeping bag and stretched out on it. "Cause now that Ranma doesn't have me with him, his dad is going to resume their normal training."

"How's that?"

"You'll see." The dark-haired girl grumbled as she laced her fingers behind her head. After a moments silence, she grinned cheekily. "Thinking about switching the engagement now?"

"You have _no_ idea." Nabiki admitted, which made Blackfire chuckle quietly.

 **OOOOOO**

Soun stared at his friend for several long moments, unwilling to believe what he'd just heard come out of Genma's mouth. "You're serious?"

"Mm-hmm."

Another pause. "Genma old friend, we've known each other for a very long time, and you have thought up with some outlandishly bad plans."

Genma's smile faltered.

"And then you come up with something like this…" A smile spread across Soun's face that was so wide, it threatened to make the top half of his head fall off. "And TOTALLY redeem yourself!"

 **-To be continued-**

 **Author's notes.**

 **1: *warning, fic not actually guaranteed to promote the above feelings and emotions from the readers and the author is not to be held liable to those who don't experience such feelings because they are dead inside.**

 **2: *Google translation for Blackfire, and unless someone makes a stunning argument for a better Japanese translation,** _ **Kurohi**_ **is staying where it is.**

 **3: This idea came about from a** _ **MASSIVE**_ **mega-crossover that has been my unicorn for awhile now. As I fleshed out a particular aspect of that story, I decided to make an attempt to build a separate tale from it.**

 **4: Credit for indirectly encouraging this idea goes to an IRL buddy (Call him Blackhawke, he knows who he is.) who talked about how funny the 'Pervy oversexed girlfriend' trope is. (Came from the two of us watching "Krillin Plays SOMA" and his comments on 'robot buttholes', which prompted us to imagine ALL the comments Android 18 would've made had she been there and nearly laugh ourselves sick. Plus the mental image of Krillin/18 having exchanges like; "I'm only one man! She's like a machine!" : "I** _ **am**_ **a sex machine!" : "DAMMIT WOMAN!")**

 **5: Also, full credit to the Blackhawke for coming up with the phrase 'Kirked' for inter galactic fuggins when I was summarizing my plans for the fic with him. ("So, Ranma Kirked Blackfire?" : "Yes! Yes he did! That is the best way to put it!")**

 **6: Teen Titans timeframe is after the last true appearance of Blackfire in the TT comics that were based on the show. (The Ryand'r/Madam Rouge incident.)**

 **7: Aspects of Tamaranean culture will be played with and/or Kubo'ed for the purposes of this story. (Writer of Bleach, here meaning I will be pulling things out of my ass.)**

With that, I hoped you enjoyed chapter 1, please let me know what you think with ratings and reviews, and chapter two will be out soon!


	2. Chapter 2

Welcome to chapter two of the RanmaxTeen Titans crossover, Reformations! I hope you enjoyed the ride so far because this train has NO brakes! This is especially appropriate because I'm uploading this chapter earlier than I intended to, as I wanted there to be a good buffer between updates in case writer's block screws me up. But you people apparently like this premise, so what the hell, enjoy!

As a response to many of the reviews, I'm giving a giddy, Starfire-worthy squee of glee to see the "You have my attention, sir." reaction, as I had thought the pairing would be more of a "O_O...What in the fuck are you doing?" kinda thing.

 **Anon, Reykan, grappler** : It will be revealed a piece at a time (So I can feed off of the suspense, muahahahahaha) for why Blackfire/Ranma are acting a bit OOC. Though at this point it's pretty obvious why Ranma ain't completely acting like himself, having gotten some nookie along with a rolled up newspaper on standby whenever he deepthroats his tonsils. Blackfire though…Let's just say a _significant_ event happened between them, which will be revealed in due time.

 **traumaalloy, Dragish** : True, among the stories where it's more than just him and his old man showing up at the dojo, usually the 'already have a girlfriend' are kinda rare...and usually those go a bit heavy into the Genma/Akane bashing. On that subject;

 **wingofpain** : I _**TRY**_ to be fair regarding bashing characters, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna call a spade a spade when it comes up. There will be instances (this chapter for example) where it's gonna sound like I'm roadhauling a character, but I ask for your patience on such things, as it will all be explained in short order.

 **lord Martiya** : We PM'ed about that subject.

 **FalseExact** : At the moment, the Titans are gonna show up towards the end of the fic and contact with DC-verse was gonna be rather minimal. (Nerima practically being a self-contained ecosystem of WTF) But I could always throw some stuff in later for that, provided the inspiration fairy bitchslaps me hard enough.

I do not own the Teen Titans or Ranma ½, to my dismay.

Reformations Chapter 2

 _Some Answers, More Questions, and Critical SAN Damage_

 **-2 months ago-**

Ranma-chan gulped nervously as she approached the crater, wondering what she was going to find at the end of the long, smoking gouge in the earth which had formed when the shooting star she'd observed turned out to be a 'falling' star and had landed less than a half-mile from her perch.

Nearing the lip of the broken mass of trees, stone, and dirt which formed the divoted resting place of whatever had caused such an impact, the redhead wondered, (Is it a meteor? Maybe a comet? Wait, ain't those supposed ta be made of ice, cause then it would have melted? Maybe a satellite? Or even an spaceship-)

The sudden image of a green, tentacled monstrosity, covered in slime and mucus and Kami knows what else filled her mind, and it was all Ranma-chan could do to keep from turning tail and running the other way. After a moment, she shook her head and set her jaw, determined not to act like a girl and run away because her imagination was making things worse. (Besides,) she mused confidently as she moved closer. (I'm the best martial artist in the world, and I can beat any nasty alien who tries somethi-)

Then Ranma-chan passed the lip of the crater, getting a good view into the bottom of the impression and stopped dead, realizing that whatever her skills may be, she wouldn't be able to defeat this opponent using martial arts.

As his/her father had taught him from day one to never hit girls.

And it was undoubtedly a girl, albeit one who was probably older than him by a year or two, fair in form and face with long, flowing black hair, though the fact that she was unconscious and possibly injured stymied any appreciation Ranma might have had for her beauty. Hearing a pained groan and noticing the dents and scratches across the form-fitting armor she was wearing, Ranma-chan leapt into the hole immediately and landed next to her. Crouching down, she gently reached out and tapped the girl's cheek, being careful not to move her too much as she called, "Hey! Hey, wake up!"

Blackfire's head and body were in a state somewhere below total agony, letting her know that while there was _probably_ nothing fatally wrong with her, death would be a mercy at this point and her body insisted that she spare herself more punishment by falling into blissful unconsciousness, if only whatever _glorbag_ was yelling at her would stop it.

Her eyes opened, and her brain responded to the extra stimuli by giving a painful throb and sending in its vote for her to pass out right-damn-now. Her vision was blurry, but before her eyes closed and she ceased to be aware of anything, Blackfire saw a blurry figure next to her, topped by a mass of red hair.

Ranma-chan paused, eyes wide in shock as she caught sight of dark purple irises attempting to focus on her. The exotic appearance of the girl brought a sudden tightening to Ranma's chest, though she swept that feeling aside in favor of finding out how badly strange beauty was hurt. Before the redhead could ask anything, the girl's lips parted and she whispered, _"Ko...ri…"_

Then those violet eyes rolled back and a shot of ice shot down Ranma-chan's spine as the girl's body went slack. Quickly touching the girl's throat, or what little she could find as it was covered by a wrap-around layer of metal, Ranma-chan gave a relieved sigh as she felt a steady pulse, before looking around worriedly. The redhead ran through her very limited options, before settling on the one which many would call the stupid option, had they known of the danger Ranma was in, or who the stranger was.

Turning back to the girl, Ranma-chan crouched down and carefully picked the dark-haired stranger up in a bridal carry before fleeing into the night, being mindful to keep her movements as smooth as possible for fear of jostling her fragile cargo.

 **-present day-**

" _TIME FOR TRAINING, BOY!"_

Following the loud shout came a surprised male scream, which faded into a loud splash somewhere outside.

One bleary eye opened, twitching in indignation as an outraged feminine voice shouted, _"DAMMIT POPS! WHAT'D YA DO THAT FOR?!"_

What came next was several battle cries as the sounds of two _very_ active morning people started their day, little realizing that they had signed their death warrants at the hands of the most ruthless and twistedly machiavellian intelligence in all of Nerima.

Nabiki slowly pushed herself up from her pillow, and turned to look at the sleeping roll next to her bed. There she found a set of red-rimmed eyes surrounded by a wicked mass of bedraggled black hair, the fury within said eyes matching her own as a gravely voice declared.

" _That's_ why you should have let me sleep with Ranma."

With a groan, Nabiki flopped down onto her pillow while Blackfire pulled the edge of her roll over her head and snarled something which Nabiki didn't understand, but wholeheartedly agreed with. Granted, had she not covered her eyes and seen the purple lights flashing from the mouth of her roommates cocoon, she probably wouldn't have agreed with _those_ , but c'est la vie, eh?

 **OOOOOO**

Akane came in from her morning jog and greeted her father and older sister cheerfully, before her attention was pulled to the backyard, where her fianceé and his-currently-her father were sparring near the koi pond. As she saw the redhead's lightning fast movements, Akane frowned and mused angrily, (She- **he** was holding back _that_ much against me? That arrogant show-off! How dare-)

Unbidden, the image of male Ranma's hair, eyes and pigtail rising over the top of Blackfire's tanned-orange thigh came to Akane's mind and she flushed crimson, both in anger at being engaged to a cheating pervert, as well as a hint of jealousy over the fact the intimacy he and Blackfire shared. (and certainly not from the fact that she was curiously how it felt to be kissed like that. That's just crazy talk.)

Though intimate certainly didn't describe the expression on Blackfire's face as she and Nabiki both came downstairs and looked at the display with bleary, irritation. Akane's eye twitched as she saw Blackfire wearing an overly large and decidedly male t-shirt, which only came down a little past her waist and exposed the bottom two inches of the the dark-purple-to-almost-black panties she was wearing. This was noticed by her father and Kasumi, the former of whom rigidly fixed his gaze on his friend and future son-in-law's sparring match while the latter blushed and offered, " _Ano_...Komand'r-san, before you get dressed, would you like anything in particular for breakfast?"

"Yeah, like some modesty?" Akane muttered.

"For me, this _is_ modest." Blackfire grumbled with disgust as she idly ran her fingers through her hair.

"Wearing your _sensei's_ clothes?" Akane sniffed, as there were only three men who could have donated half of the pajamas Blackfire was wearing, and the Dragon Ball Z logo narrowed the suspect field by a wide margin.

Blackfire didn't know who the first man was who decreed, 'It's too early for this shit.' But he was undoubtedly a wise man as she narrowed her eyes at Akane and snarked, "Considering I usually sleep with _no_ clothes on, yeah, this is the less risqué option."

Akane's cheeks puffed up in irritation, and Nabiki silently cursed the lost chance for a pin-up goldmine, while Kasumi's blush deepened and she quickly changed the subject by declaring loudly, "Well, in any event, I've taken it upon myself to prepare something for breakfast for everyone's unique appetites!" Before hauling out a platter of bamboo from out of nowhere and putting it on the table.

Blackfire blinked. Then looked at Kasumi. "Are you a meta?"

" _Nani_?"

Nabiki, being a little more knowledgeable than her sister, said, "No, she's a normal human. She's just that good." Before turning to walk back to her room to freshen up.

Outside, Ranma-chan was grateful to be a girl as her reddened cheeks could easily be explained from being due to exertion, while her regular body would be having a very hard-to-cover-up reaction to seeing Komie-chan fresh out of bed in one of his shirts. (Dammit, I've seen her naked so many times, why is she hotter when she's got clothes on?!)

Meanwhile, Genma and Soun's thought processes had gone down nearly identical veins, ingrained in them from their rigorous training with the Master.

(Victoria's secret, June issue, page 35, Bottom right. Classy tastes.)

(Victoria's secret, June issue, page 35, Bottom right. Expensive tastes.)

 **OOOOOO**

"School?"

Blackfire, dressed and ready for the day in a black cheongsam with silver trimming that went down to her knees, looked incredulously at Genma across the dining room table while Ranma and Akane both got themselves cleaned up elsewhere. The older man coughed uncomfortably and affirmed her one word question with a serious, "Yes, Soun has taken the liberty of enrolling Ranma and you in the same school as his daughters. Ranma will be in Akane's homeroom while you will be in the same year as Nabiki."

"You want me. To go to school." Blackfire repeated with deadpan disbelief. "Why on Earth would I go along with this? You and I both know I've had quite an education already, and it's a complete waste of time."

Soun, sitting at the head of the table, cleared his throat. "Komand'r-san, while you are a... _worldly_ girl,"

Blackfire's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"You and my son-in-law have a similar problem in that you are lacking an education in certain areas. Ranma from a lifetime of training and yourself from being a...foreign exchange student, which is what I have you registered under."

The creak of a rusty hinge could be heard as Blackfire's head slowly turned to Genma and she fixed him with an angry glare, realizing he _had_ told his friend " **everything** " about her while the larger man made a careful show of not calling attention to the pinpricks of light in the furious girl's eyes.

"With that in mind," Soun went on, carefully ignoring the subtle aura of killing-intent which was slowly filling the room. "I believe it would be good for you to learn more about Japan, and Ranma will have someone he knows close at hand during what will be a new experience for him."

(If you wanted him and me close at hand, then why am I in the same class as Nabiki?) Blackfire asked herself. Purely rhetorically as she easily surmised the reason and even approved of it on manipulative level. (Cause you don't want me and Ranma to be **that** close, and you're using my emotions to keep me from telling you both to fuck off...I'll let you idiots think it worked, for now...and while I'm thinking about it.)

"Speaking of new experiences," Blackfire queried smoothly. "When did you tell your daughters about the engagement to Ranma?"

Soun blinked at the unusual question while Genma looked curiously at Blackfire. Kasumi however, catching the conversation from the kitchen, tensed up.

"I told them as soon as I got Saotome's letter from China."

Blackfire cocked an eyebrow. "What letter?"

"Well, it was more of a postcard really." Genma answered simply. "Just letting him know I was on the way with Ranma."

"Because a postcard is cheaper than a letter." Blackfire smirked at Genma's irritated twitch before asking Soun, "Can I see it?"

"Ah, sure." Soun replied hesitantly, clearly at a loss regarding the meaning behind these questions as he brought out the postcard in question and passed it to Blackfire.

Blackfire checked the date on the postage stamp and the mailing address, and her eyebrows rose. "This was sent a few weeks ago, from Panjin."

Kasumi eyes widened and her grip tightened around the plate she was cleaning as her father said, "Yes, and?"

"When did you get this letter?" Blackfire asked meaningfully. "Because Nabiki said you told them about Ranma and the engagement less than an hour before we showed up."

Soun frowned. "Yes, that's when the postcard arrived."

"Three weeks, for a postcard to go from Panjin to Nerima?" Blackfire frowned as she thought on what typical mail delivery timeframes were supposed to be on Earth. Then she shrugged and dismissively said, "Whatever," before passing the card back to Soun. "No skin off my nose, I just thought it sucked for Ranma since he didn't know about this engagement until we were about 10 minutes away from here."

"Really?" Soun looked at Genma curiously, to which the larger man sighed.

"I knew the boy was gonna be stubborn about the engagement, so I figured I'd get the initial surprise over with in one shot, and let things settle from there."

(Why the fuck you lyin'? Why you always lyin'?) Blackfire had to stop her head from bobbing in time with the beat inside her mind while resisting the urge to call Genma out on his deception. Although, she couldn't help but puzzle over Soun's honesty and wondered why it took so long for a simple postcard to cross such a relatively short distance.

"But, now that my boy is engaged to your daughter, they'll have the rest of their lives to figure things out!" Genma declared happily, to which Soun boisterously agreed, "Indeed old friend!"

Kasumi sighed in the kitchen while Blackfire's eye twitched indignantly. Rather than listening to the pair act like their children were already as good as hitched, Blackfire offered a diplomatic, "Fine, I'll go along with this." As she stood up and turned towards the front door. Blackfire being who she was however, couldn't resist tossing out sardonically, "But just to help Ranma. After all, I didn't meet him _yesterday_ and end up engaged to him with no warning, so I actually trust him." before walking away.

Soun and Genma's laughter died down at that, the two of them puzzling over Blackfire's statement while Kasumi wondered if she should condemn Blackfire's manipulation of her father and his friend, or since the dark-haired girl had been about as subtle as a cement truck, let it slide as anything less would've flown over the two men's heads.

 **OOOOOO**

Nabiki walked next to Blackfire, having found her roommate waiting outside the dojo when she'd headed out early, so she could adjust the betting pools on Akane's morning duels accordingly. As they walked in silence, the Ice Queen's mind went to work.

(Since Akane's good and angry, I'll knock a few minutes off the normal time to beat back the horde, but that will be offset by Blackfire and Ranma calling her out on having bad defenses, so she _might_ focus on that a little more than normal. Then again, that just made her even more pissed, so I'll have to up the odds of someone getting their teeth knocked out-)

"It was a coincidence."

Nabiki was brought out of her internal bookmaking by Blackfire's voice and looked quizzically at her. "Hmm? What's a coincidence?"

"Your dad told you about the engagement when he got a postcard the panda sent out a couple weeks ago. For _some_ reason, it got delayed, so your dad wasn't playing you three."

Nabiki let out a small sigh of relief. While she'd known her father wasn't the manipulative type, or at least he was very obvious when he was trying to get his daughters to do what he wanted as his only weapon was crocodile tears, she wasn't the type to discount conspiracies out of hand, having facilitated many herself. "That's good to hear, though if you'd _asked_ one of us, we could have told you daddy isn't the kind to play games with us."

"Yeah, I figured that." Blackfire side-eye'd Nabiki. "Now though? Your dad is _definitely_ being Genma's accomplice, or at least is willing to back the idiot panda's plays."

Nabiki narrowed her eyes. "And what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

Blackfire looked to the road ahead, unconcerned by the tone of warning in the brunette's voice. "Soun is obviously looking forward to joining the schools, though I'm not sure why he has his heart set on it so much. Genma want's the same thing, but the he's going to be more aggressive in pushing Ranma and Akane together as much as he can. Considering how your dad was willing to swing his 'city council' position to get Ranma and Akane in the same classroom; **and** stick me in school too, I'd say your dad is going to be following Genma's lead on this and doing his part to push your sister and Ranma together too."

Nabiki scowled. As much as she hated the slight on her father's willpower, the fact was he had become a bit of a follower since her mother died, and it was apparent that he'd do anything to unite the Anything Goes School once again. Making her own connections from the information she'd gotten last night, Nabiki intoned, "That's not good. Being engaged gives Ranma an unspoken carte blanche to be physical with Akane, even if she or daddy would kill him if he pushed things too far."

"Which he won't," Blackfire added with a similarly displeased expression. " **If** he even noticed the subtext of being engaged, but it will still be there."

"While Akane will be very aware of what could happen since they're 'practically married already'."

"Between that and the 'family honor' that's being held over their heads, which means both of them can't tell the old men to forget the whole thing-"

"-every time daddy and Genma push them together-"

"-they'll push back, but against each other, rather than the two idiots."

As one, Nabiki and Blackfire stopped and sighed in frustration as they thought on the fuster-cluck that was about to become their fuck-buddy/sister's lives, and by extension their own. Coming out of their despair with relative ease, they continued walking and Blackfire thought aloud, "The _glorbag_ better do what I told him to and apologize to her, or this situation is just gonna get worse."

 **OOOOOO**

Akane fumed to herself while Ranma strode next to her. Well, give or take a few meters in altitude as he was walking on the nearby fence with as much ease as she was traversing the sidewalk. When she considered the way he'd toyed with her yesterday in the dojo, along with the sparring this morning and his nonchalant balancing act, to say the bluenette was upset would be a mild understatement. Especially when mixed with the frustration and dread of facing down the horde yet again.

"Just so we're clear," Akane declared coldly without looking at Ranma. "We are _not_ getting married."

"Damn right." Ranma muttered, looking across the canal rather than at his new fianceé. "We just met, and this whole situation is total bull."

(And you already have that hussy.) Akane internally groused, while tossing out, "So don't act like you know me when we reach school."

Ranma frowned, feeling insulted by her tone and he muttered, "Why wouldn't I? I _don't_ know you."

After frowning for a moment, Akane gave a terse "fine." Before falling into a sullen silence.

Ranma glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Recalling Komand'r's advice from the night before, pursed his lips for a moment before sighing and uttering a quiet, "Sorry."

Akane blinked and looked at him. "What did you say?"

"Sorry for what happened in the furo." Ranma blushed as he remembered what he'd seen of the bluenette, although at the time, he'd been too shocked to appreciate it. Figuring since he was already admitting to a mistake he didn't make, it'd probably help to apologize for something he _actually_ did, Ranma added while nervously scratching his cheek, "And...sayin' I had a better body than yours."

Akane, flushed in embarrassment and anger as she surmised the reasons for his reddened cheeks. While his first apology had been appreciated and well recieved, the fact that he was obviously thinking about what he'd seen in the bathroom made her gratitude pull a U-turn and veer into outrage at his insincerity. Turning away from him with her nose in the air, Akane imperiously declared, "That's the difference between a _normal_ girl's body and one you got cause of some stupid spell."

Ranma's mind was yanked from its musing on comparing Akane's body to Blackfire's, and congratulating himself on his new diplomatic skills, to glaring at her for throwing his olive branch back in his face. Likewise turning away from her with an dismissive huff, he threw over his shoulder, "Well, at least my chest is big enough that people can tell the difference between my two forms!"

Akane's eye twitched and she readied to throw her book bag at the unaware boy's head, only to have the job done for her when Genma came up behind his son from out of nowhere and belted Ranma in the back of the head.

"Foolish boy!" The older man shouted at his surprised and angrily glaring child. "Don't insult your fianceé like that! If you want this relationship to work, you have to-"

The remainder of Genma's advice went unheard as Ranma swept his feet out from under him and sent the older man falling into the canal. Akane could only watch in befuddlement as her fiancee called mockingly, "What's that old man? I can't understand you!"

Genma returned to his place on the fence in panda form and quickly swiped at his son, who somehow managed to dodge the blows despite the both of them remaining perched on the fence. The display irritated Akane even more, once again seeing the difference in their skills as Ranma jumped from the fence and landed lightly on the sidewalk, smirking confidently as he called, "Too slow, old man!"

Briefly, Akane felt that whatever force controlled the Jusenkyo curses believed in karma when her prideful fiance was struck by a splash of water, as an old woman nearby was cleaning the dust from her sidewalk with a ladle and a bucket. While she managed to hide her smile at Ranma's comeuppance, there was also a measure of sympathy for the redhead as she held her now too-large pants up with both hands, and Akane said, "Hey, I know a place where you can change back."

"...thanks." Ranma replied quietly.

 **OOOOOO**

As the school's front gates came into view, Nabiki asked idly, "So, how do you think Genma has involved you in his plan with the engagement?"

Blackfire side-eye'd the Ice Queen and replied, "Put it to you this way. When it was obvious that I was interested in Ranma, the _panda_ sat me down and asked what my intentions were for his son. When I told him Ranma was _lezoom par'ma_ and I wasn't in love with him, he said it was fine if we acted like typical teenagers."

Nabiki cocked an eyebrow, recognizing the term from last night. "And what does that really mean?"

Blackfire grinned wickedly. "He's a total stud with a big dick."

Nabiki nearly tripped over her own feet while Blackfire laughed loudly. Regaining her composure with relative ease, albeit with a set of rosy cheeks that would take slightly longer to fade, the brunette said simply, "I see. And then?"

"That's it." Blackfire smiled at Nabiki. "You're pretty smart. You can work it out from there."

Nabiki frowned, but set her wheels spinning anyway, grinding what little information she had regarding her family's guests into a fine mulch. After a few moments, the only solid nugget left made her eyes widen in shock and stare at Blackfire. "You think he let you do this-and-that with Ranma-"

"Uh-huh." Blackfire affirmed with a nod. "So you can understand my irritation?"

"More than." Nabiki agreed. "What's your plan?"

"After school, I drag him somewhere quiet and get the truth out of him, one way or another."

Seeing the evil smile on Blackfire's face, Nabiki felt one of her own forming and she said in what could almost have passed for a friendly tone, "You know...if you were serious about getting a job to help keep us out of the red, I can think of a few things for you to do."

Blackfire eye'd Nabiki with interest. "Oh? Need some people roughed up?"

"Maybe."

The dark-haired girl's smile thinned and turned more devious as she declared, "I had a feeling we would get along swimmingly. I'll seriously consider it, and who knows, it could be fun."

"You have no idea."

Nabiki's response brought a laugh from Blackfire, although it faded soon after the pair entered the grounds of Furinkan high school, and the Tamaranean took stock of an assembled army of various teenagers with carefully hidden confusion. "What's going on?" She asked as the pair walked past a sumo wrestler, a basketball player and a guy with a tennis racket who seemed to be discussing strategy. "You expecting an invasion?"

"Something like that." Nabiki replied with a smirk, spotting Kuno leaning against a tree and idly sniffing a rose as he waited for the arrival of his fierce tigress. Possible friends or not, she was going to enjoy Blackfire's reaction to the hentai horde _far_ more than she had any right to.

 **OOOOOO**

Rounding the corner and onto the straightaway towards school, Akane was still smiling from the butterflies that followed her meetings with doctor Tofu as she said, "He's always taken care of me, wrapping up bandages and bruises since I was little."

"Ah ha." Ranma laughed as he leapt off the wall and ran next to his fiancee. "So that's why you 'hate boys'? You actually like older guys?"

While intended teasingly, Ranma's comment squashed the fluttering feeling in Akane's stomach as she braced herself for the _real_ reason she had issues with the Y Chromosome. Seeing her face set in a hard scowl, Ranma blinked quizzically as Akane growled, "I hate boys…" while the building they were heading towards loomed closer…

 **OOOOOO**

In her new homeroom of 2-E, Blackfire was leaning against the railing of an open window, acting like she was completely unaware of how her silk dress clung to her backside while making a mental checklist of every boy who crossed the line from 'appreciative' to 'flagrant ogling' for later punishment. As she spotted Ranma and Akane heading towards the school at a run, she said idly, "There they are." Before musing thoughtfully on their speed. "Funny, I don't think they're going to be late…"

Standing next to the 'new exchange student', along with her cohorts/lackeys, Nabiki grinned at Blackfire and said, "Oh really? You so sure about that?"

Alarms blared in Blackfire's head and she shot Nabiki a suspicious look, when a sudden shout of "There she is!" rang out from the crowd below, and she turned back just in time to see the motley crew of students charge one very angry bluenette. The alien's jaw dropped as she watched what could effectively be referred to as an estrogen blitzkrieg and murmured, "What the _flegnar_ …" while Nabiki chuckled next to her. Blackfire's eye twitched while her mind frantically struggled for some sort of explanation to madness she was witnessing, even as a puzzle piece the size of a Gordanian battlecruiser fell from sky and straight into an empty space reserved for the reason why Akane Tendo had 'issues' with men.

As another part of her mind wondered how a girl who'd been completely outclassed by Ranma somehow possessed enough skill to wipe out a horde of love-struck idiots who apparently equated a sucker-punch to a love letter, Blackfire managed to whisper in shock, "H-how does something like this happen?"

"Upperclassman Tatewaki Kuno made an announcement a few months ago that anyone who wanted to date Akane Tendo had to first defeat her in combat." answered one of Nabiki's underlings, a brunette with short-cut hair. "And he would accept absolutely no other terms."

Blackfire's twitching eye worsened, and she wondered if it was possible to suffer an aneurysm from sheer stupidity as Nabiki tossed out glibly, "Yeah, Kuno-chan's always been dense, but this is a new level for him." Before calling out to Ranma, who was perched on the outer wall of Furinkan and watching the fracas with a stunned expression. "Hurry up and get inside, or you're gonna be late!"

"What the hell is this!?" came a flabbergasted cry from the pigtailed boy.

"Don't worry!" Nabiki reassured him in an entirely too cheerful tone. "This happens every day!"

Blackfire almost collapsed at that and sputtered, "Every DAY!? _Za'preesh da da Noi_ , how could this happen every _flogborking_ **day**!?"

"What can I say?" Nabiki shrugged. "Akane-chan is popular."

Pulling herself back up in time to see the last of the horde be sent to the land of chirping birdies, Blackfire caught sight of Ranma smiling softly at his newly victorious fiancee and muttered, "Popular, huh?" Before a brown-haired boy with a wooden sword threw a rose at Akane.

 **OOOOOO**

" _I am, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!"_

An inexplicable crack of lightning followed Tatewaki Kuno's declaration, making Blackfire look outside and frown worriedly at the stormy grey clouds. (Great, some kind of weather manipulating meta? Or is Ranma's curse being a sneaky bitch again?)

"The Blue Thunder?" One of Nabiki's underlings deadpanned. "Last week he was calling himself Heavens Wrath."

"He must have changed his mind." Nabiki said before giving Blackfire a curious look. "What're you thinking?"

"Besides that I don't like how those skies look? Kuno's egomaniacal idiot act is one of the best I've ever seen."

Nabiki blinked. "Act? What act-"

She and Blackfire were both pulled from their musings as Kuno launched himself at Ranma, and the dark-haired immediately gave a gleeful laugh as she crowed, "Oh my _X'hal_ , that is _adorable_! He actually thinks he can take on _Ranma_?!"

Watching as Ranma easily dodged Kuno's attacks, Nabiki sniffed out the possible profit and offered, "Ranma's better than Kuno?"

"If Kuno touches Ranma, it'll be because he got lucky, or-"

Blackfire's voice faded as Ranma started making his own braggadocious introduction to match Kuno's and facepalmed. "Or because the _glorbag_ get's cocky…"

Things only got worse when Kuno declared he would defeat Ranma for 'hounding' Akane, and Blackfire's eye twitched in indignation as Ranma got in Kuno's face and loudly declared he wanted nothing to do with Akane. While the pigtailed teen tossed out insults at his now furiously scowling fiancee, Blackfire's head drooped in dismay and she began muttering in confused irritation. "Why, _X'hal_? Why is he doing this?" While hearing dual outraged cries from Akane and Kuno. "He just had to apologize and there would be no problems, but instead he's gotten worse! Why-"

The sound of cracking thunder and a sudden downpour snapped Blackfire's head up and she swore as she looked back to the school courtyard, only to blink in confusion as Ranma had disappeared, leaving Kuno on the ground and Akane looking dumbfounded at her unconscious suitor. "...the hell just happened?"

"Damnedest thing." Nabiki offered dryly. "A panda came from out of nowhere and grabbed Ranma just as he punched Kuno, then ran off."

"I...see." Blackfire muttered, wondering why Genma had been so close at hand, even if she was briefly grateful for the save. Sometime after Akane made it through the doors, Kuno got up and followed behind her, if rather unsteadily, and Blackfire narrowed her eyes at the handsome, if arrogant older boy. "So, what class is that idiot in?"

"This one."

"Oh joy of joys."

 **OOOOOO**

Whatever snickering might have come from Kuno walking into the classroom wearing a normal school uniform with the hiragana for "Baka" messily written on his brow was halted by the frown on his face. Well, except for one dark-haired beauty the Blue Thunder didn't recognize, but he paid her no mind as he walked to his seat.

Nabiki offered him a compact mirror, which he used to inspect the impromptu label as she said, "Amazing. You don't even remember being touched?"

Thinking on some of the speedster meta's she'd seen and how Ranma could qualify in the low end of that category from time-to-time, Blackfire snorted as Kuno commented on her friend's atrocious penmanship. (Yeah, cause he was writing fast, you _xicz'tanor_. I'd like to see you try-)

"And furthermore," Kuno declared as he walked to the blackboard. "My name is written like _this_!"

Blackfire looked incredulously as Kuno wrote his name on the board, in handwriting that was only barely more legible than Ranma's. While she appreciated Nabiki countering the blowhards defense by writing 'incompetent' right next to his name, Blackfire was too disgusted by the stubborn arrogance and said, "Okay, that's getting old."

Having been pulled from thanking Kuno for saying how much he despised her, Nabiki glanced at Blackfire as she walked up to them. "Something wrong, _Kurohi_ -san?"

(Blackfire?) Kuno eye'd the newcomer appraisingly. Noting her hair and her confident gait, he mused. (A rather villainous nom de guerre and far too much like my dear sister, but she seems to have a strong spirit-)

"Yeah, I'm sick of this manipulative _xicz'tanor's_ acting, because he knows damn well Ranma was insulting him."

The raw scorn in the newcomers voice shook Kuno out of his appreciation for her 'spirit' as well as her body, and he blinked in confusion. "Excuse me? What did you call me?"

"It means you're a petty, revenge obsessed coward." Blackfire declared with obvious disgust. "What, your ego so fragile you couldn't handle being shot down by a freshman?"

The class stared at the exchange, shocked by the disrespect being shown to the upperclassman king of the school. Granted, nobody in Furinkan really _respected_ Kuno, but no one had ever bad mouthed him to his face before today. Kuno seemed to be equally as surprised by her cutting remarks and declared, "The devil are you talking about, woman?"

"Akane Tendo." Blackfire stated coolly. "The girl you sent that lynch mob after? I have to say, it's pretty manipulative to take advantage of her pride as a martial artist to get her to go along with your stupid challenge, but then again, that was the whole point, wasn't it?"

While some students narrowed their eyes, either from puzzling over the new girls comments or working them out and seeing the upperclassman in a newer and even more unflattering light, Nabiki clicked on Blackfire's commentary and sighed. "Blackfire, you're way off."

"Oh?" She turned away from the puzzled and mildly insulted Kuno. "How so?"

"Yes, what is this raven-locked beauty talking about, Tendo Nabiki?"

"Kuno-chan, Blackfire thinks you asked my little sister out and she said no." Nabiki informed him dryly. "And you came up with your challenge as a way to get revenge on her."

Kuno's eyes widened and he blanched as her words sank in. "What?! I, the scion of the noble house Kuno would _never_ stoop to such a thing!"

"Oh really?" Blackfire gave Kuno a disbelieving look.

"Yes, Blackfire; really." Nabiki answered on the kendoist's behalf. "Kuno-chan didn't ask Akane out. He saw how athletic she was and how serious she was about martial arts, and made his announcement because...what was the line, Kuno-chan?"

"Such a fierce warriors spirit could only be claimed by one who was her equal on the field of battle!" Kuno replied, frowning as he regarded Blackfire anew. "I would never stoop to such skullduggery as you have accused me of!"

"Uh-huh." Blackfire eye'd Kuno up and down. "And why didn't you just challenge her yourself?"

"Did not the footrace to capture the heart of fabled Atalanta compose of many suitors before she lost to her eventual love? As in the tale legend, it would be unseemly to rob anyone else of the chance to prove themselves, even if they could never hope to stand up to the pinnacle that is the Blue Thunder."

Another thunderclap outside punctuated that statement, and Blackfire blinked. Thinking that the possibly lightning attuned meta might not realize what he was doing, she turned her attention back to him and after a moment of study, shook her head. "As ridiculous as it sounds, I believe you, Kuno."

"But of course!" Kuno's chest puffed up with pride. "I wouldn't sully the name of my noble lineage-"

"So instead of a manipulative coward," Blackfire went on with a casual air, "You're _literally_ a thundering moron."

Nabiki (poorly) covered up her giggle of amusement behind her hand along a few other students as Kuno had been completely broken out of one of his trademark braggadocious speeches, eyes narrowing as he regarded the mocking smirk on Blackfire's face. After a few moments, he declared, "I don't think I like you."

"The feeling's mutual, _varblernook_."

 **OOOOOO**

The teacher cleared his throat as he lifted a paper from his desk, studiously focusing on it rather than the girl standing next to his desk as he intoned, "We have a new transfer student."

Smiling widely at the opening introduction, Blackfire bowed slightly and said, "Komand'r. But it's easier to just call me Kurohi, as that's what my name translates to in your language."

"Where are you from?" Called a boy in the back. "America?"

The teacher frowned, but before he could call out the student for interrupting, Blackfire laughed lightly and said, "Oh no. I'm from a little country called Tamaran, you've probably never heard of it."

Bolstered by her unflappable demeanor, a blonde girl with shoulder-length hair asked, "How old are you?"

(Do I blow their minds by using Tamaranean years? Nah.) Blackfire smiled in amusement as she replied, "18. But since I don't know very much about this country, it was only appropriate that I give myself a little extra time to learn more about your culture.

"What kind of schooling have you had?"

Fuming, the professor said, "Alright, that's eno-"

"I can speak English, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese and Korean, along with a few (dozen) other languages. I'm very good at math, sports and astrology, with an interest in the sciences."

A portly boy with brown hair and a prominent nose, taking the chance before the teacher shut down the Q and A, asked, "What's your BWH measurements?"

Immediately, several girls turned to glare at the perv while several boys (including Kuno) made a passable show at not looking interested in her answer, though the rest didn't even attempt to hide their expectant smiles as the teacher shouted, "Alright, that's enough! Deten-"

"By western measurements; 35-24-31."

The professor stopped and gaped at Blackfire, along with several female students who suddenly found themselves jealous of the new girls figure, and appalled with how easily she gave up such private information. Nabiki merely cocked an eyebrow quizzically, which Blackfire noticed as she gave the brunette a wink and focused her sunny smile on the now red-faced boy who was surprised to have heard an answer to his question.

"And if you or anyone else offers to 'help me check' if my measurements are off or convert them to metric; I'll break your arm and throw you out the window."

The pervert paled along with several other boys, as they were on the 3rd floor of the school. Meanwhile, a few girls felt heartened by the new transfers sweetly delivered threat, even as the teacher said, "Enough, Komand'r-san!"

"Spoilsport." she audibly muttered, which earned her a few chuckles before declaring, "Anyway, I'm going to be staying at the Tendo Dojo while I'm going to school here, and I look forward to meeting _almost_ all of you."

Kuno narrowed his eyes, recalling how Ranma had also claimed to be staying at the Tendo dojo, while he and everyone else likewise caught the not-at-all subtext of 'almost' as the teacher cleared his throat and said, "That will do. You can take a seat next to miss Tendo."

 **OOOOOO**

"What is your intention, Komand'r-san?"

Blackfire glanced at Kuno, who was quietly speaking from the opposite side of Nabiki. Finding herself ludicrously bored by the lesson, Blackfire decided to humor him and said out of the corner of her mouth, "My intention for what?"

"For Tendo Akane, of course." Kuno fired back, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You and that cur, Saotome Ranma, have come to live at the dojo recently, and I want to know why."

Blackfire's eyes narrowed at the insult on Ranma, even if it was a horrifically outdated one. While not as sneakily manipulative as she thought, the alien definitely didn't like Kuno and indulged in a bit of petty cruelty by looking back at the blackboard and muttering, "Well, if you're going to be _rude_ about it, then you can just sit there and stew, _varblernook_."

Kuno frowned, then looked at Nabiki. "What is going on, Tendo Nabiki? Why is this foul-mouthed woman and that cur living with your family?"

Blackfire's eye twitched, but she kept her gaze away from Kuno so he didn't see her pupils glowing in irritation. That didn't stop her from smirking as Nabiki shut the nosy idiot down with a simple, "¥2000 first."

"Done."

Blackfire's head snapped around and she gaped as Kuno laid several bills in Nabiki's hand with the practiced manner of someone with too much money and not a lick of sense. As Nabiki said, "She and Ranma are staying at our house because Ranma's dad and mine studied martial arts together." Blackfire gave a quiet sigh of relief.

"Then, why was Saotome Ranma acting so familiar with Tendo Akane?"

"Because they're engaged."

Blackfire almost fell out of her chair as Kuno shouted, "ENGAGED!?" And effectively crash-halted the professor mid-lecture, making the teacher growl at the upperclassman in irritation.

"Yep. Apparently, daddy and his friend agreed that Ranma would marry one of us and unite the schools, and Akane was picked."

(Picked by _you_!) Blackfire thought, stunned and impressed by how callously the middle Tendo had tossed her future brother-in-law under the bus and backed it over him, while Kuno's face contorted in fury, his hands clenching into fists as he growled, "I will not allow this! I will not allow this engagement to stand!"

The boy's overdramatic declaration lost some of its impact as the teacher bounced an eraser off his head and shouted, "Kuno, stand in the hall for interrupting the class!"

"Y-yes, professor." Kuno replied quietly before heading for the door.

Blackfire watched as he picked up a pair of buckets and stood outside, then narrowed her eyes at Nabiki. "I know this is gonna sound like an insult, but it's not." She offered with a mean smile. "You are one _cold_ bitch."

"Kuno calls himself the Blue Thunder, while **I** am the Ice Queen." Nabiki affirmed with a small smile as she slid the bills into her wallet.

"I should be pissed at you for selling out Ranma like that," Blackfire murmured as she watched Kuno's back through the slightly frosted window. "But he can handle that chump, and at least this way you made some money off of him before people find out about the engagement anyway."

"And he stopped talking in the middle of class." Nabiki said haughtily. "So annoying."

Blackfire chuckled, then blinked as it looked like Kuno was...gyrating out in the hall. Admittedly, it wasn't easy to determine what was happening short of his body moving in strange ways, but it almost looked like he was suffering some kind of attack. The Tamaranean was all ready and willing to watch the idiot suffer a stroke from finding out his crush was now _affianced_ , until she realized that Kuno's restraint was the thing being attacked as he gave some kind of muffled shout and ran off, carrying his buckets with him as he presumably headed for the object of his newfound hatred.

"Oh _Varfash_!" Blackfire spat before asking Nabiki, "What's Akane's homeroom!?"

Nabiki cocked an eyebrow quizzically. "What's with you? I thought you said-"

"The idiot is carrying buckets of **water**!"

Catching the meaning immediately, Nabiki's eyes widened and she replied, "1-F, third floor."

Blackfire jumped out of her seat and ran towards the door, ignoring the angry shouts from the professor to get back to her desk as she headed towards the stairs.

By the time she reached the bottom of the steps, a crowd was charging towards her with Ranma at the front of the pack and Kuno in a close second place. Blackfire took a second to wonder how the kendoist had changed back into his hakama and gotten his bokken so quickly when she heard Ranma shout, "Hey, Kuno! Let's take this outside!" As he made to jump out an open window.

The familiar voice of Akane shouting, "Ranma, WAIT!" Was almost overshadowed by Kuno snarling, "I accept!" As he leapt out after Ranma. Blackfire couldn't stop herself from cackling evilly at the sight of Kuno willingly sending himself into a freefall as she ran up to Akane and cheered, "Oh my _X'hal_ , that is beautiful! What a _glor_ -"

"Ranma, you idiot!" Akane screamed out the window. "The **pool** is down there!"

That snapped Blackfire out of her schadenfreude, both from the thought that Kuno would survive his jump and Ranma's curse would end up being revealed, and she looked out the window just as two colossal splashes came from down below.

"Oh _X'hal_ dammit…" Blackfire groaned. " _Why_ does his curse always try to piss in his sushi?"

Akane pursed her lips at the crude statement and asked, "Where'd you come from anyway? Weren't you in class?"

"So was Kuno." Blackfire muttered. "Until your sister told him about the engagement for ¥2000."

Akane's screech of _"NANI!?"_ Came just as the swimming pool erupted. Both girls watched as Ranma-chan rocketed out of the pool, carrying Kuno on her back with a furious expression before reaching up to grab his head with both hands, and bodily slamming him down onto the edge of the pool.

Blackfire grimaced and muttered, "Okay, _that's_ something Ranma's never pulled before..." As the redhead flipped over the prone kendoist and hopped away. "Wonder what the _varblernook_ did to piss him off?"

"Besides shouting to the entire school that we were engaged?" Akane growled as several students to ask each other why it looked like Ranma suddenly had red hair. "And it wasn't enough anyway." The bluenette declared as she pointed to Kuno, whose body was imbedded in the concrete border of the pool while the upper half of his head dangled in the water.

Seeing the wannabe swordsman's deceptively clear, conscious eyes, Blackfire swore quietly before giving Akane a serious look. "We need to find Ranma."

Akane nodded. "We'll stop by home Ec for a teakettle first."

Blackfire nodded and the two sped off, not noticing as Kuno crossed his arms and tilted his upside down head at a thoughtful angle.

 **OOOOOO**

Ranma-chan growled as she wrung out her pants, sitting in a tree branch at the edge of Furinkan's outdoor soccer field. "Freakin' pervert, grabbin' me like that, who does he think he is?"

"Ranma!"

"Hey, Ranma!"

At the sound of her name, the redhead stuck her head out and spotted Blackfire and Akane standing below her perch and called, "Hey, what're you guys doing here?"

"Looking for you, _glorbag_." Blackfire replied with a frown. "Why're you up there, anyway?"

"I'm not gonna dry my clothes where everyone can see me!"

As Blackfire nodded in understanding, Akane asked disdainfully, "Why did you jump into the pool anyway, you baka?"

"I didn't know it was down there!"

"Oh, so Kuno wasn't the only idiot who should have looked before he leaped?" Blackfire offered teasingly, earning a chuckle from Akane and a frown from Ranma-chan.

"Shut up!" the redhead snapped as she stuck her tongue out at the pair. "Who asked for your opinion anyway?!"

At that, Blackfire and Akane's thought processes synced, and the dark-haired girl winked at her companion before giving Ranma-chan a smile that sent warning bells ringing in the redhead's mind. "Oh, you don't need her help?"

"Then you don't want me to give you this?" Akane added as she brought her hands from behind her back, revealing the teakettle she was carrying.

As Ranma-chan frantically started begging and apologizing, Blackfire smirked at Akane and said, "See? I've been working on him for weeks and he _still_ needs training on dealing with girls."

While Akane could understand what Blackfire was saying, the image of Ranma and her on the roof stubbornly refused to leave her mind and she scowled. "Maybe it's because you were too busy teaching him _hentai_ things instead of useful ones?"

Blackfire narrowed her eyes at the bluenette's response and smirked. "To people who aren't terminally _repressed_ , I taught him some _**very**_ useful things."

Akane glared at Blackfire, but before she could respond, an unfortunately familiar voice came from behind them and the two girls grimaced as they spotted Kuno heading their way. The bluenette called, "Oh crap!" Before throwing the kettle to Ranma and saying, "I'll distract him!"

"What?" Blackfire stared after Akane as she jogged towards the upper-classman, neither of them noticing that Ranma-chan has been forced to make a diving catch for the kettle that left her suspended horizontally with her ankles locked around the tree branch she'd been sitting on. The alien quickly ran after Akane and caught up to her just after she'd reached the searching Kuno.

Kuno spared a disdainful look at Blackfire before giving Akane a joyful smile. "Ah, fair Akane Tendo. What joyful serendipity that we should meet here!"

"Yes, what an _amazing_ coincidence, running into her while both of you are looking for her _fiancé_."

Noting Blackfire's emphasis on that hated word and her cruel smile, Kuno scowled. "Still your venomous tongue, Komand'r! It is the will of the Gods that I would find my fierce tigress in such a place!"

"Yeah, right." Blackfire said derisively before asking quietly out of the corner of her mouth. "How are you planning to distract him?"

Rather than answer, Akane locked eyes with Kuno, her face hardening as she declared, "Kuno, I challenge you!" And moved into a basic stance.

Blackfire's eyes lit up and she chirped, "Oh, _good_ idea!" As she smiled at the bluenette. "That'll help you relieve some of that stress, since you won't let Ranma take care of it for you."

Akane's eye twitched and a certain branch of the tree behind the two girls shook violently. Kuno, somehow missing the undertone of Blackfire's comment, ignored her as he declared with a smile. "Ah, to be challenged by you, fair Akane. Very well!" brandishing his bokuto, the swordsman declared, "If you lose, I shall date you; while if I lose, I will permit you to date me."

Blackfire did a double-take, gaping at Kuno in shock while Akane snarled, "What kind of conditions are those!?"

While the bluenette was outraged, Blackfire was completely thunderstruck by the kendoist's statement and stared at him like he'd sprouted a second head. "No way...your duel-to-date conditions work _both ways?!_ " She looked at Akane. "Has he done that this whole time!?"

"Pretty much." Akane growled out of the corner of her mouth, never taking her eyes off of Kuno's weapon.

"Oh my _X'hal_ , How are you alive?!" Blackfire shouted at Kuno. "Cause _nothing_ in the universe could be as stupid as you and still be capable of _breathing!_ "

Despite readying herself for a fight, Akane smiled as Kuno sputtered angrily and snarled, " _Again_ you insult me!? Why do you continue to vex me, vile woman!?"

"Kuno," Blackfire said coldly, shocking Akane and Kuno both by stepping between them and looking at Kuno through narrowed eyes as she cracked her knuckles menacingly. "I haven't **begun** to vex you."

"Blackfire, what are you doing!?" Akane growled. "This is my fight! Don't get in my way!"

"Sorry, Akane." The dark-haired girl offered without taking her eyes off of Kuno. "I know I told Ranma we should let you handle this situation, but if you want this _varblernook_ and the horde off your back, you _need_ to let me beat him down, right now."

Akane blinked in confusion, while Kuno said disdainfully, "While I am flattered, Komand'r-san, I have no wish to date you. Now, you are interrupting my chance to prove my worth to Akane Tendo."

"You _have_ no worth, you useless sack of _grox_ dung!" Blackfire snarled furiously. "I wouldn't go out with you if the survival of your entire _X'hal_ -damned species depended on it! Now shut the hell up so I can make you _eat_ that stupid stick of yours!"

('your' species?) Akane blinked, thinking that Blackfire had misspoken as Kuno eyes eyes narrowed in determination.

"Very well then," Kuno declared, his grip tightening on his weapon. "If you insist on acting as Akane's second, then the challenge of our duel will be accordingly placed upon you. When I win, Akane Tendo will have to date me!"

Akane's eyes bugged. " _Nani!?"_

"WHAT?!" Blackfire shouted angrily. "I never agreed to-"

She swore as Kuno launched himself at her faster than she'd seen him move before, bringing his sword down in an overhead slash that, while practically telegraphed, was fast and deceptively powerful. Recalling how he'd somehow cleaved through a stone wall and a sizable tree with his 'stick', Blackfire shoved Akane back and turned to the side, letting Kuno's strike pass harmlessly in front of her while wishing she was wearing her armor.

Shifting his grip, Kuno swung his bokken into a side-slash, only to be stopped by Blackfire catching the 'blade' of his sword in her left hand. The harsh crack of wood on skin echoed and Akane's eyes widened in shock. (She-she caught it!? With one hand?!)

The bluenette's thoughts were mirrored by Kuno, who murmured, "How?!" Before the sound of creaking wood registered and he noticed Blackfire's fist tightening around the shaft of his weapon. A flash of purple caught his eye, and he looked back to his opponent's face just in time to see her smile sweetly and declare, "Oh, now I'm _really_ going to enjoy this."

Without letting go of Kuno's bokken, Blackfire swung her right hand up and into the swordsman's gut, punching him into the air like he'd been fired out of a submarine and making Akane gasp as Kuno sailed into the sky. Being distracted by the show of strength, the bluenette didn't notice her 'second' to this duel had swapped the kendoist's Weapon from her left hand to her right, and was wringing out her left hand with a pained grimace.

( _X'hal_ dammit, that hurts!) Blackfire groused as she tried to work some feeling back into her fingers. (It hurt more then when Kori blasted me back on Tamaran. This training better pay off soon or-)

A loud clang shook the alien from her thoughts and she looked up to see that Kuno had coincidentally landed in the same tree which held Ranma. More amazingly, Ranma was holding onto her perch in a position which defied several rules of physics and basic biology, while Kuno had landed head first directly onto the kettle the redhead had yet to use to change herself back with.

Blackfire boggled at the pair as Akane shouted, "You haven't changed back yet?!" In a justifiably irate tone, as their distraction had been worthless.

"I couldn't help it!" Came Ranma's indignant reply.

Kuno, having recovered the air he'd lost following the punch to the stomach, managed to look poised despite balancing upside down with his head indented in a teakettle. Looking to Ranma-chan, he said, "Ah, you are that girl from earlier."

Ranma, Akane and Blackfire all felt a sense of relief as it seemed that Kuno hadn't figured out Ranma's curse.

"Tell me, have you seen a pigtailed boy recently?"

Ranma-chan answered, "N-no…" Somewhat uncomfortably from supporting herself and Kuno's weight completely on her ankles as well as speaking to a man who somehow managed to speak nonchalantly despite his ridiculous position.

"Damn, he ran away!" Kuno snarled. "That coward, he must have feared my prowess in battle!"

Blackfire cringed as she saw Ranma's eyes narrow. (Don't do it, don't do it, just let it slide-)

"Saotome Ranma is not a man, I say! He is no man!"

The dark-haired girl's head hung low as Kuno was unceremoniously dropped on his head, shortly before Ranma-chan followed him out of the tree, growling angrily, "I'm not gonna take this from you!"

"What the hell is he doing?!"

"Ranma has _issues_ with manliness." Blackfire answered Akane without raising her head. "And you can thank his dad for that one."

Akane looked curiously at Blackfire. "What do you mean?"

Before she could answer, Blackfire felt a tug on the weapon in her hand and looked up to find Kuno grabbing the handle of his sword while keeping his eyes on Ranma-chan. Tightening her fingers, she smiled as Kuno ineffectively tried to pull his weapon free of her grip before turning to look at her with a frown.

"Komand'r-san, what are you doing?"

"What? You want your stick back?" She asked mockingly. "I'd think a _great warrior_ like yourself wouldn't need a weapon to beat some _girl_."

Kuno's eyes narrowed in irritation while Akane asked, "Blackfire, what are you doing? Kuno can't fight without his bokken."

"Komie, give it to him! I want to beat his ass fair-and-square!" Ranma shouted with a furious, determined expression.

After flicking her eyes between her lover and their mutual nemesis, Blackfire shrugged and let go, offering a simple, "Fair point. Watching you curbstomp him would be funnier, but either way it solves Akane's problem."

"What problem?!" Akane snarled as Kuno turned to Ranma-chan and readied himself for a fight.

Blackfire merely shushed the bluenette and said, "I'll tell you after." Before turning her attention to the fight, which made Akane growl in frustration, though she likewise focused on her new fiancee facing off against the 6-foot pain in her backside.

"Very amusing, to think you can challenge me, oh tree-borne kettle-girl."

Kuno ignored the sudden snickering behind him, while Ranma-chan's eye twitched in irritation from seeing Blackfire's shit eating grin, knowing she was gonna be hearing _that_ name again.

"Very well then!" Kuno declared as he charged forward, "If you win, you may date me!"

Leaping over his broad slash easily, Ranma-chan's leg snapped out and caught Kuno square in the face, knocking him on his ass with a shout of, "Who'd wanna date _**you!?**_ "

As Kuno slipped into dreamland, eyes wide in disbelief for how easily he'd been defeated, Ranma-chan idly kicked his bokken into the air and caught it with one hand, resting it on her shoulder as she disdainfully looked down at the beaten swordsman. "By the way; Ranma Saotome is an even better fighter than me."

"Damn straight." Blackfire said with a disgusted look before thumbing over her shoulder. "Let's get out of here, I think we've had enough school for one day."

"Sounds good to me." Ranma-chan nodded in agreement as she turned to follow her friend.

Akane moved to walk with the pair, walking next to Ranma-chan as she asked, "Why'd you say that to Kuno, anyway?"

"Well, it's true."

"True or not," Blackfire offered with a smile. "Komand'r thinks talking in the third person makes you sound as dumb as him."

Akane gave a small laugh as Ranma muttered something under her breath, though her amusement faded fast as she eye-balled the dark-haired girl. "So, why would letting you two beat up Kuno solve my problem with him and the horde?"

"Huh?" Ranma-chan looked between Blackfire and Akane quizzically. "What're you talking about, 'Kane?"

"It's all about the sub-text, Akane." Blackfire shrugged. "Kuno makes that stupid challenge about you and everyone went along with it, because what's **not** being said is that Kuno could do that because he's the best fighter in school. The problem is, when you beat him and the horde the first time, that should have been the end of it because **you** were strongest in school, and could negate his stupid challenge." Blackfire turned her head and gave the bluenette a displeased, slightly sympathetic look. "But here we are, three months later, and they're _still_ attacking you. The only reason that would be happening is because no one believes you're actually stronger than Kuno, and I'm sorry to say, no one will _ever_ believe you're better than him."

Akane's jaw dropped and she made to grab Ranma-chan's trophy from her fight with Kuno, clearly intent on braining Blackfire for her insult. Catching the move and understanding the intent, the redhead quickly tossed the bokken into the air as Akane shouted, "How DARE you! I'll show you who's a better fighter!"

"Akane, stop! Komie didn't mean it like that!"

"You should listen to your fiancé, Tendo." Blackfire declared as she stopped and scowled at Akane. "Cause you're jumping to a conclusion that'll put you in a world of hurt, and if you don't listen, you're gonna regret it."

Akane's face hardened at the threat, but she stopped grabbing for the stick being juggled by Ranma and turned to face Blackfire. "Then what did you mean?"

"No one will believe you're a better fighter than Kuno, whether you really are or not, because that _varblernook_ thinks he'll get to go out with you whether he wins or loses." Blackfire growled angrily, and Akane felt a flash of curiosity, as it looked like the older girl's violet eyes had glowed for a second. "And since _everyone_ knows about his stupid challenge, they know he has no motivation to try and beat you. Ergo, they think he's holding back, and nobody will believe you if you claim to be the best fighter in school, because all your wins against him don't count."

Akane's anger dialed back to a low simmer as she saw most of what Blackfire was saying, the familiar feeling of helpless frustration regarding the horde coming into sharper focus, even though the bluenette shared her fiancé's confusion as Ranma-chan asked, "And why does that change if we beat him?"

"Because, if Kuno loses to someone who he has _no_ reason to hold back against," Blackfire smiled thinly. "Then _they_ become the strongest fighter in school and what they say becomes the rule. Since I knocked him into LEO, that makes-"

Dual shouts of " _Nani!?_ " Came from Akane and Ranma, the former outraged at having been sidestepped by the newbie while the latter threw out, "I beat him too! Why doesn't that make _me_ the strongest!?" in an offended tone.

"Because he said he would allow you to date him if he lost," Blackfire declared cheerfully, "And he has **no** interest in dating me. He only said that Akane would go out with him if he won that fight, and now I can say his proclamation is as stupid as he is, and your fianceé can get some therapy for her anger-management problems."

While that last crack made Akane's fury bubble, the waterline of her outrage had decreased significantly as she came to understand Blackfire's reasoning. Frowning deeply, the bluenette turned away from her 'savior' and muttered, " _Are_ you going to tell them that?"

Blackfire narrowed her eyes, but glanced at Ranma-chan who was alternating between concerned looks at her fiancee and nervous glances at her semi-ex girlfriend. With a sigh, the alien said, "Yeah, I'll tell everyone I whupped Kuno's ass tomorrow when me and Nabiki get to school and the stupid challenge is off." Then she smiled at Akane. "And if Kuno does something stupid to keep the challenge going, like asking me out, I'll break his arms and shove his replacement sword up his ass."

"Komie." Ranma-chan said reproachfully, though the slight smile on her face belied her amusement at the idea while Akane remained huffily turned away from Blackfire, though the dark-haired girl smirked as she saw the corner of Akane's mouth quirk.

"Alright," Blackfire replied jovially before resuming her walk, followed swiftly by her companions as she added, "but either way, he'll regret it if the horde keeps acting like Akane fell into the Spring of Drowned Perfect Girl and never realized it."

" _Nani_?" Akane blinked quizzically. "What's the spring of drowned perfect girl?"

"Oh, it's a very tragic story," Blackfire offered chipperly. "Where the only perfect girl in the world fell into a magic pool and drowned, and now anyone who falls into the spring will forever turn into a girl whose pussy tastes like jello-shots!"

The two teens face-faulted as Blackfire cackled with wicked delight, their glowing faces threatening to melt through the asphalt as Ranma-chan moaned, "Oh my GOD, Komie!" And Akane murmured something about being 'surrounded by perverts'.

 **OOOOOO**

The three girls arrived at the dojo and were greeted by a soft, "Oh my." From Kasumi. "It's very early, Akane-chan. Did something happen at school?"

"You could say that." Akane replied dryly as she went upstairs, followed closely by Ranma, making Kasumi wonder where the redhead had obtained a bokken from.

Before she could muse on that, there was a tap on her shoulder and she turned to see a grim-faced Komand'r. "Can you do me a favor and tell the _panda_ that Ranma needs to talk to him in the dojo? Right now?"

" _Nani_?" Kasumi looked to the retreating back of her currently sister-in-law. "But, Ranma-kun didn't say anything-"

"Kasumi." Blackfire said in a low, irritated voice. "Just tell him, please? I need to check something really important."

Seeing the thinly veiled anger in her houseguest's eyes, Kasumi gave Blackfire a concerned frown before nodding and saying, "Alright, Komand'r-san."

 **OOOOOO**

"Boy?" Genma called as he stepped into the dojo, casting his eyes around as he asked, "Where are you?"

The aging martial artist's danger sense flared and he quickly spun into a backfist, narrowly missing the attacker who'd just sent up a wave of hostile intent behind him, only to have the front of his gi tighten in someone's fist and all the air wooshed out of him as he was bodily lifted into the air, his substantive bulk resting on the end of Blackfire's right arm as she held him up and smiled evilly, her eyes glowing violet in the dim light of the dojo.

"Hello, **panda**." Blackfire said with icy calm. "We need to talk."

"Komand'r-san, what are you doing!?" Genma hollered, hoping his friend or Kasumi would come to stop her. "Let me down!"

"Not until you tell me something, Genma." Blackfire went on with a falsely amicable tone. "See, when you sat me down and asked what my intentions were on your son, I was so _confused_ when you asked if I was in love with him or wanted to marry him." Blackfire chuckled. "I mean, we'd only met a few weeks ago! Why would you think I was interested in marrying him in so short a time?" The playful smile disappeared and Blackfire's eyes glowed as she scowled. "Well, now I know why you were worried about marriage, don't I?"

"Komand'r," Genma gasped as his legs kicked, trying to swing himself off the blunted pole digging into his gut. "Uniting the schools is everything to me and Soun! We made this arrangement _years_ ago!"

"And used it to _trap_ Ranma, by not telling him until it was too late to stop it." Blackfire growled, then her face shifted to a reassuring smile. "But don't worry, Genma; I'm not interested in breaking up this little arrangement you have with the Tendo's."

Genma paused, one eye squinted shut in discomfort as he said, "Y-you're not?"

"No. Unless Ranma says he doesn't like _any_ of the Tendo girls, in which case, I'm not letting you force him into a loveless marriage, family honor or not." Blackfire bent her arm, lowering the older Saotome closer to her face as she snarled, "What I want to know is _why_ you let me screw Ranma every which way under the sun, if you knew about this engagement? Because at this point, my best guess is that you thought I would be good for Ranma to _ **practice**_ on before he got engaged, and if I'm right…" The lights in her eyes thickened to an almost viscous quality as she growled, "Then Ranma's gonna become an orphan, because I will **not** be used like that."

Genma was terrified, having seen something of what this girl could do, albeit sporadically since she'd been traveling with him and Ranma.

He was upset at being manhandled so thoroughly, despite his martial arts training.

But most importantly, Genma was happy.

Because for once, he could tell the truth, and it would save his skin.

"Komand'r, that's not why I let you and the boy be together at all!" Genma declared, an almost indecent amount of joy in his breathless words as he went on. "I saw how awkward he was around you and realized that as long as the engagement was not in danger, he could learn something that I would never be able to teach him!"

Blackfire's eyes narrowed, and Genma briefly prayed to whatever Kami might be listening that she didn't mistakenly see any dishonesty in him before she growled, "Dammit." and lowered him to the floor. "You're telling the truth. Mostly."

Pausing in his sigh of relief, Genma said worriedly, "Mostly?"

"Oh, you _were_ thinking about Ranma getting some experience with women, which isn't quite as bad as I was assuming," Blackfire explained while frowning at him. "But that's not the only reason why you gave me the go ahead, even though there wasn't really anything you could have done to stop me in the first place. So what's the rest of it?"

Swallowing loudly as he ran through his list of options, Genma said, "Komand'r-san, I cannot tell you that-Except!" He said quickly as her eyes flared again. "That it's for the boy's own good, and my reason for agreeing to your relationship will **never** jeopardize his life or his future."

Blackfire glared at the larger man for a few moments more, then sniffed and said, "Fine." Before turning on her heel and striding out the door. Genma waited until she'd left the room before giving a relieved sigh and clasping his hands together as though in prayer.

 **OOOOOO**

Ranma sighed as he headed up the steps, having gotten done talking to his dad in the dojo, where the old man had insisted he thank Akane for helping him out at school today. Much as he hated to admit it, especially because of his father's underlying motivation for telling him to make nice with his new fiancee, but Genma did have a point. Even though the kettle had gone to waste, Akane had tried to help him keep his curse a secret and challenged Kuno to a fight for him.

Ranma paused, recalling how Blackfire had stepped in and walloped Kuno. Frowning at the memory of the strike she'd blocked and hearing the muffled voice of Akane and Nabiki engaging in girltalk in the bluenette's room, the pigtailed boy passed them by and headed for Blackfire's new sleeping quarters. Not bothering to knock out of concern for her health, the pigtailed teen opened the door and called, "Komie-chan? Are you-"

And stopped dead as he saw Blackfire getting undressed, braless and in the middle of sliding her underwear down her legs, looking at him with almost as much surprise as he felt.

After a second to comprehend what he was seeing, and appreciate the view, Ranma yiped and spun on his heel, almost slamming the door shut as he babbled, " _Kuso!_ Sorry, Komie! I just wanted to talk, I didn't mean-"

Delighted laughter came from the other side of the door. _"Oh my X'hal! Ranma, how can you_ _ **still**_ _be bashful around me!? It's not like you haven't seen more than that before!"_

Ranma flushed beet-red as he recalled several such occasions, but held the door shut while calling over his shoulder, "Can you get dressed so I can talk to you?"

Blackfire sighed, _"Fine, if you insist."_

Catching something in her voice which he found very familiar, Ranma deadpanned, "And put the underwear back on."

" _...You are_ _ **no**_ _fun…"_

Ranma sighed and waited for the eventual, _"Come in."_ From his companion/friend/former fuck-buddy to find her wearing the same DBZ shirt she'd borrowed from him and worn this morning. Blackfire sat on the edge of Nabiki's bed, swinging her legs idly as she smiled seductively at him. "So, what do you need, Ranma? Don't suppose you're looking for a _kiss_ -"

"Komie-chan, show me your hand."

Blackfire's legs stopped swinging and her sensual expression disappeared. "What?"

"Kuno hit you pretty hard, and you were taking your underwear off with one hand." Ranma said as he stepped forward and sat next to her, looking at Blackfire seriously. "Your hand, Komie."

Frowning in displeasure before eventually looking away from Ranma with a sullen expression, she extended the hand in question and suppressed a wince as Ranma reached out to take hold of it.

Catching her flinch, Ranma sighed and gently examined her deceptively strong yet delicate digits. "Komie…"

"I thought I could handle it." She muttered under her breath.

"Well, you dislocated three fingers," Ranma frowned as he examined her pinky, ring and middle digits. "And I don't call that 'handling it'."

She glared at him, then looked down at her fingers and sighed. "Alright then...you want to do the honors?"

Ranma grimaced. "If I have to…"

His hesitation, obviously coming from the fight between his desire to help her versus his personal code of never hurting a girl, made Blackfire smile gratefully at him. Her smile vanished like a snowflake in a blast furnace as he quickly set her middle finger with a soft pop and she screamed, "MOTHER _FUCKER_!"

Ranma winced as he offered, "I'm sorry, Komie! I don't know any other way to-"

Pounding feet reached the door, which burst open to find Akane shouting, "What's happening-" and stopping dead at the sight of Ranma holding Blackfire's hand delicately, with his fingers around her ring finger like he was sliding something on it. While Akane wanted to feel happy at what appeared to be a marriage proposal from her unwanted fiancee to the girl he'd done _things_ with in her house, all she felt was furious at the embarrassment and dishonor of being rejected. Her aura flaring, the bluenette snarled, "You, you lecher! How dare you!?"

Ranma looked utterly confused by the bluenette's ire, while Blackfire blinked, then looked at the position she and Ranma were in and whispered under her breath, "Oh _X'hal_ dammit…" As Nabiki peered over her sister's shoulder and grinned evilly.

"Ooh, very nice Ranma! Not the most romantic location to propose, but-"

"Shut up!" Blackfire snapped, surprising Nabiki and Akane before the similarly mischief-minded brunette made the situation worse. Her fury helped drive home the fact that they were seeing something that wasn't there, which was amplified from the pain of the sudden adjustment as she shouted, "Who screams in fucking pain when they're proposed to!? I broke my fucking hand blocking Kuno's stick!"

Akane's anger receded as she considered that, while Nabiki muttered something under her breath about 'only teasing' when both girls heard more footsteps. With practiced ease, they stepped to the side and waited for the cavalry to arrive.

Blackfire and Ranma looked confused as Akane and Nabiki cleared the doorway, when there was blur of motion as Kasumi barreled into the room with a first aid kit in hand. Ranma didn't have a chance, as his carefully honed instincts protected him from hostile intent and Kasumi's motivations were anything but hostile when she slammed a palm against his face, knocking him ass-over-teakettle across Nabiki's bed and onto the floor with a pained shout as the pony-tailed brunette took over his previous location.

Blackfire could only stare in shock where Ranma had disappeared over the edge of Nabiki's bed, having been sucker-punched by the (supposedly) most peaceful girl she'd ever met. As she turned back to Kasumi, Blackfire nearly told the brunette to back off, but stopped as she saw the intense, worried gaze on Kasumi's face. Despite her predisposition towards the young woman, Blackfire saw nothing but honest concern for her well-being and merely frowned sullenly as she let herself be examined.

"Which one did he set?" Kasumi asked after a moment.

"The middle."

Kasumi frowned at that answer. "Well...that one is okay," before looking apologetically at Blackfire. "But that still leaves two left."

"Just get it over with." The dark-haired girl said coldly, unwilling to show the Tendo sisters the same weakness she'd allowed Ranma to witness.

"Set what?"

Nabiki's question was answered by Kasumi. "Komand'r-san's pinky and ring fingers have been dislocated."

Akane and Nabiki winced, the bluenette having personal experience with such injuries, even as she realized the reason for Blackfire's wound and snarked, "Maybe next time you should dodge Kuno's sword?"

The dark-haired girl glared at her. "Hey, I'm not as fast as you or Ranma! What-"

She let out another scream as Kasumi took advantage of her distraction to set her ring finger, making all three sisters wince while Ranma pulled himself up dizzily from the floor and leaned against Nabiki's bed.

"...was I supposed to do?" Blackfire finished her sentence with a pained growl. "Do one of those clapping sword-catcher moves? That's almost impossible-"

"I could do it." Akane said smugly, feeling a bit bolstered by her guests comment on the differences in their speed, though her hackles rose when Blackfire snorted dismissively.

"It's true, Komie-chan." Nabiki said as Akane's shoulders tensed. "She's had a lot of practice with Kuno over the last couple of months."

Blackfire, feeling rather more bitchy than normal due to the shooting pain in her hand, grunted, "Fine, then I guess someone _else_ is fast enough to do it besides Ranma."

She didn't have much opportunity to appreciate Akane's ugly scowl before a soft hand on her cheek redirected her gaze to Kasumi. The brunette gave Blackfire a stern, but sympathetic look as she said, "Komand'r-san, please don't antagonize Akane-chan."

Blackfire bristled at the brunette's request, but acquiesced as there was nothing stopping Kasumi from 'accidentally' setting her finger wrong and doing serious damage. Granted, her carefully honed skills at reading people said the older girl would never do something like that, but still…

"Sorry." Blackfire muttered sullenly, paying no attention to the thankful smile from Kasumi before the last flare of agony signaled the end of her misery, although something seemed to lessen the pain this time so that she simply yelled rather than shrieked like a banshee. As she gasped for air, she murmured, "How the hell did you get here so fast?"

"Kasumi's got a lot of experience fixing up boo-boo's," Nabiki said with a smile. "Course, being from a martial arts family, Akane's childhood scratches would've sent most kids to the hospital."

Blackfire 'ahh'ed in understanding while Kasumi double-checked her digits for any leftover pain. Ranma however, frowned and looked away from the girls and muttered under his breath, "Lucky…" Which was heard by Kasumi and earned him a curious look from the kindly brunette.

"Lucky? Why is that lucky, Ranma-kun?"

Ranma gulped audibly as three more pairs of eyes focused on him, one curious, one suspicious, while the third quickly shifted from interested to understanding. "Let me guess." Blackfire offered before changing her voice to something more pompous and with a deeper baritone. _"Walk it off, boy! Stop whining like a girl!"_

Ranma nodded in affirmation of Blackfire imitating his father and said, "Pretty much." Which brought frowns to the three sisters faces.

"I see." Kasumi said thoughtfully, before smiling helpfully at Blackfire and Ranma. "Well, from now on, if you need any help; I'll be happy to take care of you."

"And if Kasumi can't handle it," Nabiki offered. "Doctor Tofu is amazing."

Blackfire chuckled as she flexed her fingers, the last lingering tingles of discomfort fading. "Thanks for that. But we shouldn't need that much patching up anymore, or at least Akane won't."

Kasumi blinked quizzically while Nabiki cocked an eyebrow in interest and Akane frowned, unhappy that she hadn't _truly_ been able to end the annoyance of the horde on her own terms. "How's that, Komand'r-san?"

"I whupped Kuno's ass at school," Blackfire declared cheerfully, ignoring the way Kasumi frowned in disapproval at the crude swear. "Which means I'm stronger than him, and have every right to say his stupid 'fight-to-date' challenge is complete bull."

"Really?" Nabiki looked interestedly at the dark-haired girl. "When was this?"

Blackfire froze, and her gaze rose to meet at the middle Tendo's with wide eyes. "You don't know?"

"No."

"It was after we followed Ranma and Kuno!" Blackfire go to her feet, the panicky expression on her face drawing looks of confusion or dread from the other occupants of the bedroom. "Did **nobody** see what happened?!"

"No…" Nabiki said with a combination of hesitancy and a strange kind of evil anticipation. "Kuno got back to class and he was thankfully quiet, like he was thinking about something really important."

Blackfire immediately let out an agonized groan and sat back on the bed, prompting a quizzical, "What's wrong, Komie-chan?" From Ranma.

"Nobody saw us nail Kuno, and he didn't mention a _word_ about what happened, which means they STILL think that _varblernook_ is the toughest fighter in school!"

Akane stiffened, finding the familiar dread of the horde returning along with a spark of hope that she still had a chance to prove herself as the best fighter in school. When Blackfire grumbled, "Guess I have to kick his ass **again** tomorrow," Akane couldn't stop herself from shouting, "No!"

Blackfire, Nabiki, Kasumi and Ranma all stared at the angry bluenette, with Kasumi asking, "Akane-chan? Why not?"

"I've been beating the horde for 3 _months_ without a break, and I **know** I'm better than Kuno!"

"That doesn't matter!" Blackfire fired back as she got to her feet and locked eyes with the bluenette. "Since that _varblernook's_ stupid duels are an automatic date whether he wins or loses, there's _no_ reason for him to win against you, and no one will believe you're _actually_ stronger than him!"

Akane snarled, while the sense of wicked delight grew in Nabiki's chest, and a smile began forming in anticipation of dropping the bombshell she'd been waiting for the opportunity to bring to bear on her new roommate since school ended.

"He doesn't want to date me, win or lose, and thinks beating **me** will get a date with you, so he **has** to come at me seriously! So, I'm the one who has to fight-"

Blackfire was interrupted by the sound of giggling, and turned to look curiously at the middle Tendo sibling, who was holding her stomach with one hand and covering her mouth with the other to try and stifle her amusement. Blackfire's confused expression was matched by Ranma, but Kasumi and Akane felt an inexplicable feeling of dread rise at the sight of their sibling in the throes of a hysterical paroxysm.

"Imouto…" Kasumi asked hesitantly. "What happened?"

After a second to compose herself, Nabiki straightened up and smiled cheerily at Blackfire. "Neh, Komand'r-san? Are you familiar with the concept of 'tsundere'?"

Blackfire narrowed her eyes and warily replied "No…" While Ranma's confusion deepened, though Akane and Kasumi shared a look of mutual despair.

"It's a thing that shows up in romance manga's from time-to-time." Nabiki explained, all sunny smiles and with a cheerful tone that set Blackfire's instincts humming with paranoia. "Where a girl meets a guy, and they _really_ don't get along at first and seem like a bad pairing, but she slowly warms up to him and becomes nicer…"

"Sounds like a stupid way to pad out the length of a story." Blackfire offered dryly. "But what does that have to do with-"

She stopped. The events of the day went through her mind and the color drained from her cheeks as she whispered, "Oh _X'hal_ no…" while Nabiki's smile widened into a fully-evolved shit-eating grin.

"With how you got in Kuno's face first thing in the morning, but then followed him when he charged after Ranma, rumors have gone **wild** with the idea that you're hoping to _prove_ you're a better match for Kuno than Akane, but you're too shy to just come out and say it."

Ranma facefaulted, one of his feet visible over the lip of Nabiki's bed twitching involuntarily.

Kasumi sighed and lowered her head.

Akane's jaw dropped, and she couldn't hold back the uncontrollable laughter that burst out of her mouth, and refused to stop for a full 5 minutes.

Blackfire sank to her knees, eyes unseeing as she tried to wrap her mind around what had just occurred. When it sank in, there was only one phrase which adequately conveyed her feelings on the matter.

 **OOOOOO**

Soun and Genma were enjoying a nice game of shogi on the veranda, the former having assured the later when pained screams erupted from upstairs that Kasumi could handle anything just as the apron-clad homemaker had zoomed out of the kitchen in a yellow and white blur. Granted, if it had been Akane or Nabiki who screamed, Soun would have gone plaid to find out what happened to his baby girls and possibly punish whoever was responsible, but as it was the girl who Genma had assured him was **much** more durable than she appeared at first blush, the two men simply enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere.

" _ **X'HAL DAMMMIIIITTTT!"**_

Blackfire's ear-splitting shriek of rage echoed through the otherwise quiet evening air, and soon faded, leaving nothing behind but a faintly awkward silence as Genma set down the piece that had been in his hand when his son's student had announced the eventual murder of some unlucky soul.

"Genma old friend," Soun asked after a moment with a calm voice. "Should we-"

"If it's one of us she's upset with, and we tried to run," The portly man advised solemnly. "We'd only die tired."

Soun sighed and nodded before taking his turn.

 **OOOOOO**

 **1: Yes, making up Tamaranean words for things, especially curse words, is fun as hell.**

 **2: No, not EVERYTHING from Canon Ranma-verse is going to be set in stone, as Blackfire's presence and relationship with Ranma will cause certain changes to the status quo.**

 **3: I selected Panjin by sheer happenstance, as I eyeballed a map of China and wanted to set up something which SEEMED like it would be about 3 weeks of travel between it and Nerima, and the reason the letter took so long is because it ended up diverted through North Korea. Obviously as Genma Saotome was able to send a postcard containing less than 10 words that was SOMEHOW able to slip through the elite intelligence network of North Korea, he must be a master spy and now has a warrant for his arrest issued by NK leadership. (Why, of** _ **course**_ **I'm not saying the North Korean government is dumber than a man who thought covering his son in fish sausage and chucking him into a pit full of starving cats was a brilliant idea! That'd just be mean!)**

 **4: The ladle and bucket thing is a "being a good neighbor/building community goodwill" thing by washing dust from the sidewalk so pedestrian's clothes don't get dusty, and (supposedly) helping them keep cool. Huh, now that I think about it, that's probably why no one called her out on dousing Ranma all the time; she's trying to be helpful and a good neighbor, while he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. (Fuckin' curse magic)**

 **5: shits and giggles personal idea: Tamaranean bodies age at the same rate as humans, but their planet revolves around their sun much faster than ours does. In their years, Blackfire is 224 and Starfire is 208. Why, no I TOTALLY didn't pull those numbers out of my ass, why do you ask?**

 **6: In regards to Blackfire's behavior, it's equal parts her poking somebody in a weak-point for shits and giggles, as she is want to do, plus it can be considered a sexual modification on the "Douchebag Test".** "Every man has a douchebag test. If you meet a guy and he's wearing the goofiest shoes you've ever seen...croc's, maybe. (and he has a tie on?!) If you walk up to him and go _"Dude, what's with those shoes?"_ and he goes, _"These are my favorite shoes…"_ DOUCHEBAG! But if he says, _"These shoes? I'll keep wearin' these as long as you wear that shirt."_ BROTHER!"-Christopher Titus

 **7: And Blackfire's totally-not-a-stand-in-for-my-feelings-on-the-tsundere trope? Yes, yes I goddamn did. (•_•) ( •_•)⌐■-■ (⌐■_■) Deal with it.**

 **8: I did not slide the scale of DC superpowers back to make Blackfire more 'balanced' with Neriman madness. There is a VERY good reason that a hit from Kuno would actually hurt her instead of amounting to a butterfly's fart.**

 **9: If you have to ask if Blackfire really will be tsundere for Kuno; the pointed hat is sitting on the stool in the corner, get going.**

Chapter 3 will be coming out soon-ish. Stay frosty, and feel free to review or critique when able!


	3. Chapter 3

And onward we march, into the depth of hell and madness that is Reformations.

To those who reviewed, followed and favorited, I thank you. Yes, even those who left negative reviews, as I was able to learn somethings from you as well, even if it was just the ability to recognize the difference between honest criticism, a biased or unbiased opinion, or just someone shouting 'Badwrongfun!'. (the proper response to the last is to say, "That is an opinion you are having." and then completely ignore them)

To those who've said that I'm following canon Ranma-verse, that is true...up until a point, as I'm doing a fair bit of a "ripple effect" from Blackfire's presence rather than dropping the writing equivalent of a tactical nuke and scorching Nerima completely bare. In this chapter, there will be SOME deviations from the events as we are aware of them, but it won't be until next chapter that the first major shift occurs.

Also, the reasons why this chapter took it's sweet time getting here is because I have many ideas for stories floating around in my head, (and on my computer) and every now and then the bug jumps up my ass for one of the others instead. Plus, it didn't help that I released Chapter 2 WAY earlier than I'd intended, because now I DON'T HAVE A DAMN BUFFER!

Anyway, I've said it before, and I'll say it till it sticks in your heads: I do not own the Teen Titans or Ranma ½.

Also, {-} will now stand for {words spoken in another language, like two characters speaking Chinese/Tamaranean while everyone else is speaking Japanese} because the sideways V's, aka the greater than, less than symbols don't show up when uploaded to . No, I have no idea why either.

Reformations Chapter 3

 _Rivalries and Job Opportunities_

 **-2 months ago-**

Genma-panda grumbled as he made his way up the mountain path, heading for the cave where he and Ranma had slept the night before going into town. It was a well hidden little crack in the side of a nearby hill, with a decent amount of shrubbery obscuring the entrance from casual observation, and the gap to get inside was just small enough that a more dedicated inspection would conclude that a panda could never make its way inside.

But, then again, panda's aren't known for being able to suck in their guts, hold their breath and walk on their hind legs at the same time, are they?

It was a relief as the two-toned bear finally squeezed through the hole and into the main chamber, largely because he immediately caught sight of his son-turned-daughter sitting near the remains of a very small campfire, barely more than a handful of glowing embers to minimize smoke as that would give away their position to their pursuer. What wasn't a relief as Ranma turned and shot her father a dark look, shushing him before nodding her head to the far wall, was the fact that the redhead wasn't alone.

Genma took a moment to appraise the strangely dressed and armored girl, who was laying on her back with her head propped up on the boy's rucksack, and gave a disapproving chuff.

"Oh don't you start!" Ranma-chan snapped angrily.

The panda growled and narrowed its eyes while jerking it's head over its shoulder, back towards the crack it'd squeezed through.

"I know that. But she was hurt, I couldn't just leave her!"

Seeing that his son's mind was set on helping the unknown girl, Genma looked at her and inquisitively snorted.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

The panda gave the redhead a flat look.

Ranma-chan sighed. "Alright, you asked for it. Did'ja see that falling star a little while ago?"

Genma-panda nodded.

"Well, it landed really close to where I was hidin' out **alone**." The pigtailed redhead glared at her father, who made a point of suddenly finding a nearby moss-covered wall fascinating. "And when I went to go check it out…" She gestured to the girl. "She's what I found."

The panda froze. Then slowly turned to stare at the dark-haired girl with wide-eyes. After a few moments of silent contemplation, it chuffed again.

Ranma-chan rolled her eyes. "No, pop; she musta' fallen out of an airplane with no parachute and somehow survived- _YES_ , I think she's a damn alien!"

Blackfire heard voices. Or at least a voice, definitely feminine and angry, along with a growling, snuffling sound that made her think of some kind of wild animal. Whatever was happening, she wanted it to stop as it was only making her head hurt worse and she groaned, {Would you cut that out?} in English without opening her eyes.

The sounds immediately silenced, which she was thankful for as she opened her eyes.

The sight of a redhaired girl crouched next to a large animal made her less than thankful as her mind blared a warning that she'd been caught by her little sister and that immature shapeshifting teammate of hers. In a moment, she sat up, eyes flaring angrily as she snarled, {I don't know how you found me, but you'll-}

A sharp stabbing pain somewhere in the region of her temples made Blackfire grimace and clutch her head with an agonized moan, her sudden motion aggravating the injuries she'd gotten in her unexpected free fall from the upper atmosphere. As she remembered what happened before waking up in a cave in the middle of nowhere, the alien scowled darkly and looked up to find that the animal and the girl were both pressing themselves flat against the far wall of the cavern, staring at her with wide, fear-filled eyes.

While she would have taken a few moments to enjoy the only proper reaction to an awe-inspiring figure such as herself, Blackfire had other priorities as she took a closer look at the pair, letting her eyes and mind clear enough for her to realize that this wasn't her sister or the insipid Beast Boy. Asking,{who are you and where am I?} brokered only a confused look between the girl and mammal, prompting Blackfire to roll her eyes and point directly at the redhead, and then down at the ground right in front of her.

The girl swallowed loudly and moved forward, understanding Blackfire's simple command and was soon crouched down next to the slightly woozy exile, who was covering her weakness under a well-practiced look of superiority. She'd started to ask something in her native language, but was cut off by Blackfire grabbing the back of her neck and pulling the wide-eye'd redhead in for a kiss.

Blackfire held her close for several moments, making sure her people's innate ability had enough time to copy as much of the girl's mother-tongue as possible before breaking away. Despite being put off by the similarly colored hair to her hated sibling, Blackfire had to admit that the girl was far from unattractive and her lips were pleasantly soft, making it something of a shame when she finally let go of the utterly stupefied and red-faced girl to ask, "Who are you and where the hell am I?"

It took a few seconds for the redhead to recover her wits, whereupon she shook her head and blurted, " _Nani!?_ How did you-What the hell was that?!"

"I needed to learn your language, and I wasn't about to waste time doing it the boring way, _glorbag_." Blackfire explained dryly.

The redhead frowned. "Glor...bag?"

For some reason, the urge to tease this strange girl came to Blackfire, and she smirked as she replied, "Basically the same as _baka_."

"Hey!"

The dark-haired girl laughed lightly at the redheads indignant look, before repeating her question in a less forceful tone. "So, what's your name?"

"Ranma. Saotome Ranma." the redhead replied, still blushing from the unexpected affection despite being annoyed from the insult. "Who're you?"

The knowledge gained from a crash-course in the language of Japan telling her that the redhead's tone and inflections were very masculine, Blackfire cocked an eyebrow curiously as she replied, "Komand'r. Or in your language, Blackfire."

 **-present day-**

The hentai horde looked up as a storm cloud approached Furinkan high school, a strangely isolated darkened patch of sky that brought worried looks to those who wondered if it was some kind of portent or ill omen. As the cloud moved closer, a few of the more religious of the horde whispered a brief prayer before they noticed the approach of two figures.

Nabiki Tendo, poised as ever, strolled calmly towards the mass of boys. Hormonal perverts they might be, but none of them wanted to mess with the undisputed Ice Queen of Furinkan high, lest they suffer her wrath and be struck down even harder than they had been willing to suffer at the hands of her little sister. Next to her was the new transfer student known as Komand'r, or rather _Kurohi_ , a name that brought several questions to people as to whether or not she was in the grips of _Chuunibyou_ and if that was the reason she had apparently fallen for Tatewaki Kuno, due to the similar themes of their nom de guerre's.

While beautiful, especially in her indigo-colored chinese silk pantsuit, the scuttlebutt that she fancied the captain of the kendo team, plus the fact that the dark cloud seemed to be centered over her made several boys hesitate at the idea of asking her out on a date. As she moved closer and it became apparent that she was in a foul mood, her head hanging dejectedly with dark circles under her eyes and a grim frown across her face, the boys who'd been willing to take a chance at a more attainable girl than Akane Tendo resigned themselves to once again becoming part of the morning melee.

As Nabiki and Blackfire passed through the gates and moved through the horde, a voice called, "Hold for a moment." And both girls stopped to watch as Kuno walked up to them, his face set in a stern, determined expression.

"What's up, Kuno-chan?" Nabiki asked gamely as Kuno reached the pair and stood in front of them.

Rather than address Nabiki, Kuno looked at Blackfire and after taking a deep, calming breath, stated plainly, "Komand'r-san. I would like you to know that while the gossip I have been made privy to is _somewhat_ flattering, I have no doubts that I hold the salacious tales of your affection with at **least** as much disdain as you do."

Blackfire was silent for a few moments, then slowly raised her head to meet Kuno's eyes with the weary, drained expression of one who had spent the better part of last night seriously contemplating mass-murder. In a dry, emotionless voice, she intoned, "Kuno. I am going to say something to you that I _never_ thought I would have to tell you, so I want you to savor this moment." After a second to pause for effect, she offered a grateful, "Thank you." Without a trace of scorn or mean-spirited wickedness.

Kuno nodded his head in return and both girls passed him by, leaving the kendoist to prepare for the arrival of his beloved while those who'd seen the exchange soon convinced themselves that the foreign exchange student was playing hard-to-get with the object of her affections.

 **OOOOOO**

Blackfire's head rested on her desk, lacking in spirit or willpower to watch the carnage of Akane beating the snot out of Kuno and his back-up dancers, as she knew it wouldn't matter if she made a custom foam finger with Akane's name on it and screamed for the bluenette to snap the loudmouthed blowhard over her knee; the ignoramuses who'd somehow got it into their heads that insulting someone was a sign of romantic attraction would still be convinced she was hot for Kuno.

( _X'hal_...I know I haven't been a good person...or even a mediocre person...but why am I being punished like this?) the villainess despaired silently as Kuno's pre-battle proclamation of victory was silenced mid-sentence, indicating that Akane had 'won' against the egomaniac yet again. (I just had to quit a diet of horse meat cold-turkey, and now I have to deal with people thinking I want that _varblernook_? How is that fair!?)

"Neh, something wrong, Komie-chan?"

Blackfire twitched at the teasing question from Nabiki, and spoke without raising her head from her desk. "First, _Ranma_ is the only person who I let call me that. Second, thank you so much for reminding me of the fact that he's persona-non-nookie thanks to this stupid engagement, and third; nothing will be wrong as soon as you tell me how long will it take you track down who started this stupid rumor regarding me and that _glorbag varblernook_."

Nabiki frowned, but let her irritation at Blackfire's rude behavior slide as she replied, "Something like that will take some time. And I've yet to see anything to compensate for the room and board you've gotten from my family."

Blackfire twitched, then turned her head to give the mercenary queen a narrow-eye'd scowl. "Remember what I called you yesterday, and how I didn't mean it as an insult? I'm about to take that part back..."

Nabiki returned Blackfire's ugly look, which broke off as the dark-haired girl sighed heavily. "Fine, fine. I'll see if I can come up with something." Sitting up, Blackfire muttered under her breath, "Still don't know _how_ I'm gonna make some money unless I fall back on old habits…"

Hearing her comment, but choosing not to call attention to it, Nabiki smiled thinly. "Well, if you're that hard up for cash, I could always give you a loan."

Blackfire's eyes narrowed, and she looked out of the corner of her eye at the grinning brunette. "A loan."

"Yeah. Since Ranma is Akane's fiancé and you're his student, we're practically family." Her smile widened ever-so-slightly. "Don't worry, I've got very reasonable rates."

A moment of silence passed between the two girls, only to be broken by a snort from Blackfire. It was soon followed by a quiet laugh, which grew into a series of chuckles, while Nabiki was likewise snickered in amusement. In moments, the two girls were sharing a delighted laugh that chilled the blood and loosened the bowels of all in earshot, who wondered what sort of madness had been wrought on the world that would allow Nabiki Tendo to meet someone who shared her manipulative and malicious personality.

"Oh _X'hal_ …" Blackfire giggled as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I needed that."

"Careful, or I might charge you for therapy."

Blackfire gave another laugh. "Oh, my dear _sweet_ Ice Queen, you would **faint** if you knew the things that are running through my head! Speaking of which…"

Nabiki cocked an eyebrow interestedly as Blackfire brought out the travel guide Genma had used to take him and Ranma to Jusenkyo. As her new roommate started flipping through it, Nabiki asked, "What are you doing?"

"Since beating Kuno isn't going to get him off your sister's back, I need to come up with an alternative method for taking him down a peg."

Nabiki's eyes narrowed, already running through the money she might lose from the morning betting pools if the brawls ended. "You going to order some Jusenkyo water to use on Kuno?"

"That was the plan," Blackfire murmured as she intently started reading the brochure.

"Seems a bit cruel to me."

Blackfire smirked. "Well, if he can't handle seeing how the other half lives, that's not my problem, is it? Besides, I could be _really_ evil and get some water from the spring of drowned duck or drowned octopus and see how long he lasts before ending up someone's dinner."

Putting aside the decidedly horrific idea Blackfire had come up with, as she couldn't possibly be serious about having Kuno be cooked and eaten, Nabiki blinked quizzically and asked, "...How does a _duck_ drown?"

"It's magic, don't ask me." Blackfire replied before becoming completely absorbed in the book, and Nabiki turned away to let the dark-haired girl scheme in peace.

 **OOOOOO**

( _Zaprudaj!_ ) Blackfire snarled as she slammed the book closed. Fuming angrily as the surrounding students broke out their bentos or bolted for the door lest they miss out on any preferred vittles from the cafeteria, the alien growled as she pulled out a box of her own, which had been prepared by the simperingly sweet Kasumi. Reminded too much of how the brunette resembled her little sister only fouled Blackfire's mood even more, even as she had to admit that her lunch was rather tasty.

(Why in hell would whoever wrote this worthless piece of trash wait until the very end to put a damn disclaimer saying _anything_ from Jusenkyo has to be 'approved' by some random ass villages out in the middle of nowhere!?) Blackfire asked herself as she chewed a mouthful of lightly seasoned rice. (I mean, the Amazon's are one thing, but who the hell are the Musk, or this Phoenix tribe? How many 'empires' could possibly be tucked away in one little country? No wonder humanity hasn't unified and developed FTL if they're still dealing with backwoods, _vurthmar_ -sniffing hicks rather than focusing on getting off of this rock.) mentally brushing aside that thought process for the moment as unproductive, if stress-relieving, Blackfire mused on what she _had_ gleaned from the travel book. (But some of those products would make Ranma's life a lot easier...and open up all sorts of possibilities for fun-)

"Tendo Nabiki? Komand'r-san?"

Being addressed by the reason why she'd wasted several hours combing through a deceptively thick tome did nothing to ease Blackfire's temper, though she managed to adopt a calm facade as she turned to Kuno and asked, "You wanted something, _varblernook_?"

Kuno's eye twitched at the word he'd come to recognize as _some_ kind of insult, though he'd be damned if he knew what it was. "Tell me, what do you or Tendo Nabiki know if the pig-tailed, tree-borne kettle-girl I beheld yesterday?"

"The redhead?"

"Indeed."

"Wearing Chinese clothes?"

"Yes?"

"Who knocked you out?"

Kuno's eye twitched. "The same."

Blackfire turned away from him and looked impassively out the window. "No idea. Never saw her before."

Kuno's twitching eye worsened while Blackfire restrained the urge to laugh in the enraged boy's face, when Nabiki offered, "Oh, her? I know who she is."

Blackfire turned to look suspiciously at the page-cut brunette as Kuno asked hopefully. "Truly?"

"Yep," Nabiki answered gamely. "I know her really well."

"Excellent." Kuno smiled thinly before turning to his desk and taking out a piece of paper and a pen. As both girls curiously watched him write, the kendoist chuckled to himself in a way that sounded decidedly twisted. "She thinks she can defeat me and walk away? She will be _sorely_ mistaken!"

(Oh goodie,) Nabiki shook her head ruefully. (Kuno-chan's got a grudge.)

Blackfire, lacking the familiarity bias of knowing Kuno for longer than 2 days, saw the eager, anticipatory look in the kendoist's eyes and thought for a moment on what that could mean. While normally familiarity would lend an edge to deducing a person's mental state, here Blackfire's personal experience helped her connect the dots regarding Kuno's somewhat giddy expression and she realized she was looking at the formation of a schoolyard crush. Her eyes widened and she quickly covered her mouth, hiding the smile that was starting to form as she thought. (Oh no. Oh my _X'hal_ , this is going to be **glorious**!)

For the rest of the day, following Kuno giving Nabiki a letter that was addressed to the 'tree-borne kettle-girl', Blackfire would give a periodic twitch that few noticed. Those who did soon dismissed her strange behavior, never imagining that they were watching a girl who was trying not to rupture something as she resisted the urge to cackle maniacally.

 **OOOOOO**

"Nabiki."

"Hmm? What is it, Blackfire?"

"Don't suppose you'd let me give Ranma the _varblernook's_ letter?"

"Mmm...why not."

" _Thank_ you, Nabiki."

"...why do I have the sudden and very unpleasant feeling that I just lost out on a profit?"

"Hehehehehehe…"

 **OOOOOO**

"Hey, listen." Ranma said as he casually tilted his head from side-to-side and dodged several straight punches from his fiancee. "I really am sorry about what happened the other day, in the furo."

"Hmph." Akane frowned at him, more irritated by the fact that he was having a normal conversation rather than taking her seriously. "You expect me to believe that?"

"It's the truth!" Ranma declared as he jumped over her sudden snap kick, lightly pushing against her extended shin and giving himself enough momentum to easily flip over her head and land behind her. "I wasn't tryin' to see you naked! And I finally figured out why you've been so ticked off about it!"

"Yeah? And why's that?" Akane asked harshly as she turned around, making ready to continue their spar.

"Cause you thought I was one of those idiots from school, didn't you?"

Akane paused at that, the scowl on Ranma's face making it clear what he thought of her many unwanted paramours, as well as being associated with them. Again, like a tickle that refused to be scratched, memories from a few nights ago surfaced, this time of his horrified expression when Blackfire told him that Akane had been afraid of him swam across her mind. As her fiancé's insight had apparently altered his fear into a form of contempt, Akane felt a small sense of camaraderie form and replied honestly. "Yeah, I did...but if you didn't mean to spy on me, why did you pretend you were really a girl?"

"Cause if you guys thought I was really a girl, we would've gotten engaged." Ranma replied simply as he crossed his arms. "I figured if I waited long enough, me, pops, and Komie-chan would leave again with no problems."

Akane cocked an eyebrow quizzically. "And what was going to stop your father from changing back and telling us the truth?"

Ranma grimaced and looked away, scratching his cheek in an embarrassed gesture. "I...didn't think that far ahead...best I could come up with was telling you pops was senile or somethin'..."

Akane blinked. Despite herself, a smile slowly formed and she giggled, which soon grew into a mirthful chuckle as she asked, "Really?! That was the best you could come up with!?"

Ranma was caught off-guard by the change in the bluenette's attitude, which was much more akin to the girl who'd asked him to be friends when he'd first arrived then the temperamental tomboy she'd turned into after they'd been affianced. Shaking his head as he tried to ignore how cute she looked right now, he replied defensively, "Hey, it was the best I could do on short notice! I didn't see you comin' up with anythin'!"

"Well, I thought you were a girl, so I didn't need to stop the engagement." Akane replied as her laughter faded. In a much better mood, she readied herself for more sparring, though her eyes narrowed momentarily as she declared, "Anyway, would you start taking me seriously? All the hopping around you're doing is making me mad."

Ranma considered her words and thought about the trials she was facing at school. Feeling a little bit happier about this otherwise ludicrous engagement due to the less-stressful atmosphere, he decided to go along with her request as he straightened up, laced his fingers behind his head and looked away from her with a supremely bored expression.

 **OOOOOO**

Blackfire growled as Ranma said _"Good."_ With an infuriatingly smug tone, which **had** to be delivered with an outrageous 'you're not worth my time' posture she could practically _hear_ as he added, _"Maybe you'll actually be able to hit me, tomboy."_

Having heard the pair talking in the dojo, Blackfire and Nabiki had been surreptitiously listening in, though at the moment, Ranma's so-called student was groaning in frustration. "Dammit, Saotome, I told you to not to use your old man's training methods with her! Or **ever**!"

"That's training?" Nabiki cocked her head curiously.

"Yeah, and like most of the panda's methods, the times when it works are few, far between, and very situational." Blackfire affirmed as she stood up. Opening the door to the dojo, she caught sight of Akane's scowl and affixed a calm smile to her face as she called, "Hey, Ranma! I got some messages for you!" and acquired target-lock on the pigtailed boy.

The interruption made Akane growl as she'd been ready to lay into the arrogant jackass, feeling especially put out due to the sudden reversal in his previously understanding tone. But her anger was eased somewhat by the presence of the... _easy_ ex-girlfriend to her fiancé. While Akane still wanted to stomp Kuno into the mud and prove she was better than him, the fact that Blackfire had gone out of her way to assist in dealing with the horde and Kuno had improved the dark-haired girls stock portfolio in her mind. Not that that stopped a small, slightly mean smile from forming as she remembered the new rumors regarding Blackfire's romantic interests and thought, (At least nobody thinks I like that blowhard.)

"What's that, Komie-chan?" Ranma looked curiously at the paper in her hand as she approached him, but when he reached to take it from her, Blackfire pulled her hand away from his and said teasingly, "Ah-ah-ah, Saotome, I need to give you my message first."

Ranma, confused by the sudden switch, asked, "Okay, what's your message?"

Nabiki and Akane's eyes widened in surprise as Ranma's head suddenly snapped forward with a shout of shocked pain, due to Blackfire cuffing him in the back of the head with lightning speed and yelling, " **That** , you _glorbag_!"

While Ranma hissed and rubbed the sudden sore spot on his skull, Blackfire growled, "I **told** you not to use your dad's stupid training methods! What the hell made you think _now_ was the right time to 'Motivate Through Spite'?!"

Akane blinked, running Ranma's unexplained insult through her mind along with the briefly peaceful moment following minutes of infuriatingly futile attempts to land a hit on him as she straightened up. " _Nani_? He _was_ training me?"

"Yeah." Blackfire tossed out as she looked away from her wincing friend to the girl he'd been sparring with. "By pissing you off so you'd want to prove yourself to him, with the added bonus of immunizing you to enemies who'll try the same thing to throw off your concentration."

The bluenette was stunned by that, the mental illumination which had cast Ranma in an egotistical and casually mean light were shifting again. Though they were a fair ways away from flattering the pigtailed boy as it became apparent that the _baka_ didn't know enough to tell someone when he was trying to help them versus just insulting them.

"And besides," Blackfire once again turned her irritated gaze on Ranma. "That kind of training won't work with her! Akane needs help with her _defense_ , and insulting her when she's already on a hair trigger cause of Kuno and the horde makes her more aggressive, **AND** you look like a raging jackass!"

Akane reddened in embarrassment and irritation while Ranma recovered and glared at Blackfire. Then he looked over his shoulder and caught sight of the scowling bluenette, and internally thunked himself for missing what now seemed like an obvious mistake. With a soft sigh, he turned to Akane and bowed slightly. "Sorry, Akane. I was tryin' to take this seriously, like you asked."

Still miffed, but much less so as understanding had tempered her frustration, Akane nodded back and replied, "Apology accepted, but don't just insult me like that again."

Blackfire gave a subtle smile at the teens, prompting a curious look from Nabiki before Blackfire gamely declared, "Alright, that's all I needed." Before holding out the piece of paper to him. "It's from the _varblernook_."

Ranma looked at the paper, noting who it was addressed to and gave a small sigh of relief as he took it from her. "Thank _kami_ that blowhard doesn't know about my curse."

"Not for lack of trying, anyway." Blackfire smirked, then cocked her head quizzically. "Why'd you smash him when you came out of the pool, anyway?"

Ranma growled, "Freakin' perv grabbed my chest while we were underwater." As he unfolded the slip of paper, not noticing the nods of understanding from the two sisters and the sympathetic wince from Blackfire.

Curiosity brought Akane up behind Ranma to look over his shoulder. "Tree-borne kettle-girl, meet me in the soccer field after school." She read aloud.

"Sounds like a letter of challenge to me." Nabiki smiled cheerfully. "Kuno-chan has a bad habit of holding grudges, you know."

(Oh, that wasn't a _grudge_ he was holding, Ice Queen.) Blackfire thought as she struggled against revealing the same malicious glee she'd been holding back since lunch. (And believe me, I'd know.)

"You sure you're going to be okay?" Akane asked with obvious concern, thinking about how different Kuno might be with time to prepare and driven by revenge.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Ranma crumpled up the letter in his fist, his expression determined as he declared, "I won't lose to anyone."

"That's what I like to hear!" Blackfire said cheerfully as she slapped Ranma on the back, her tone and behavior expressing nothing but happy support for her friend, which sent mental air raid sirens screaming through Nabiki's mind. The dark-haired girl then turned to Akane and smiled helpfully. "You want to help your fiance patch up some of those holes in her defense before you go? Could be a good warm-up for Kuno."

While the idea of being a practice run grated her nerves, the chance to fix an area she was apparently lacking in made Akane smile, especially now that the _baka_ knew better than to start badmouthing her out of hand. Of course, that dimmed when Ranma hesitantly said, "No...that's okay." which earned him several angry looks from his fiancee, former-lover, and sister-in-law.

"What? Why the hell not, Saotome…" Blackfire trailed off as she looked at him before groaning and rolling her eyes, " _Zaprudaj_ , Ranma! Were you doing that stupid training cause of your 'no hitting girls' thing?"

"Yeah…"

"Saotome, how is Akane gonna get better if you don't toughen her up? There's a big difference between hitting someone while sparring and slapping them around!"

Ranma frowned. "You say that, but that doesn't mean I like it. Besides, you know what happened the last time I didn't hold back against a girl."

Blackfire paused and admitted, "Okay, that's valid." Which prompted a mutual look of curiosity to pass between Akane and Nabiki. Before either of the sisters could ask, Blackfire eye'd Akane up and down with a predatory grin. "Alright then, how about **I** help Akane out instead?"

 _"Nani?"_

 _"Nani?"_

Akane and Ranma's simultaneous exclamation brought a chuckle from Blackfire and Nabiki before the former chipperly declared, "You go upstairs and focus on the duel, while me and Akane can have a little sparring match. It's win-win!"

Thinking about the differences in their abilities, and not merely their training and experiences, Ranma looked nervously between the two girls. "I'm...not sure…"

Akane narrowed her eyes at the pigtailed boy, but before she could make her feelings known on his lack of confidence in her, Blackfire suddenly usurped her irritation by pouting and patting Ranma's chest in a consoling manner. "Don't worry, Ranma; I promise I won't hurt your fianceé." The dark-haired girl's condescending remark only ramped up Akane's outrage even further when she gave her a pitying look and added, "After all, she's such a _fragile_ little butterflower."

Sometimes, social cues, body language, and tone of voice can paint certain situations in drastically different lights, making the arena of casual conversation a very delicate balancing act. What just occurred between the heir to the Tendo school of Indiscriminate Grappling and the villainous former princess of Tamaran had all the delicacy and subtext of a depleted Uranium bunker buster, and only someone with the social awareness of a concussed wombat could miss the mocking tone in Blackfire's voice, or think that whatever happened next was any of their business.

While Ranma still suffered from the unfortunate maladies of being raised in the wilderness by a man who thought saying 'please' and 'thank you' was an unnecessary luxury, the recent weeks under Blackfire's tutelage had brought the pig-tailed boys conversational awareness up to the level of your average marsupial, thus saving him from a grim fate as he saw the storm approaching and declared, "O-okay then, Komie." While slowly backing away from the two suddenly very hostile girls. The smell of ozone was becoming thicker and he swallowed nervously as he headed for the door that Nabiki had fled through seconds earlier.

Alone in the dojo, with nothing but the four walls to bear witness to the eventual carnage, Akane locked eyes with the arrogantly smirking Blackfire and snarled, "I thought 'Motivation through Spite' was stupid?"

"It's a…'situational' training method." Blackfire purred as she strolled forward, rolling her hips in a way that seemed at odds with the tense atmosphere between the two girls, except it put forth the impression of a panther stalking its prey rather than seductive. In either case, the tone and posture practically screamed that the dark-haired young woman was going to savor what came next. "It doesn't really work if there's zero chance of closing the gap between your skill level and your teacher's."

Akane's lips curled as a the wispy, light-blue flames of her battle aura began to flicker across her body. "So, you're not **good enough** to be a challenge to me?"

Blackfire's smile widened. "Ooh, nice one! And if you're talking about using the Anything Goes Style, then yes, you're obviously going to be better than me." As she reached the bluenette, Blackfire straightened up and fixed Akane with a haughty sneer. "But in _everything_ else, little girl, I'm a _**lot**_ more experienced than you."

The faint, blue glow was deepening to an angry red as Akane envisioned all the ways she was going to smash the smug tramp in front of her.

"Also, Ranma was taking it easy on you, cause he likes you."

The bluenette's battle aura vanished as the shock of Blackfire's statement made her blurt, " _Nani_!?"

What little air still remained in Akane's lungs after that gasp was evicted forcefully when Blackfire's fist planted itself in the bluenette's stomach, and the remaining power behind the strike lifted Akane off the ground and sent her sprawling. While she rolled on the floor, desperately trying to reclaim the wind she'd lost, Blackfire smiled sadistically and declared, "While I, am a **bitch**. And there's a very big difference between that and a 'martial artist'."

Her breath recovered, Akane glared furiously at her opponent, but her immediate impulse to decry Blackfire for the cheap shot died on her lips when she saw the dark-haired girl's smile. A thought came to the bluenette, making her swallow her condemnations as she got to her feet, and glared angrily at her opponent as she shifted into a ready stance and snarled, "I'm going to make you _pay_ for that!"

If anything, that made Blackfire's grin widen even more and she cheered, "Oh good! Looks like you've got a little bit of a bitch in you too!" Akane felt something tug at a corner of her lips, an inkling that brought a feeling of...satisfaction to her as Blackfire assumed what appeared to be a wrestling stance, crouching slightly with her hands raised up, giving the impression of a feral animal ready to pounce as she growled maliciously, "This is gonna be **fun!** "

 **OOOOOO**

Nabiki grinned wickedly as she placed the lens of her camera up to the very small gap in the dojo's door, occasionally pressing the shutter button to capture a particularly noteworthy moment of the…'boisterous' sparring match between Blackfire and Akane. Although at this point, Nabiki wasn't sure if she was looking at duel between two martial artists or a miniaturized soccer riot.

The brunette winced while she snapped another picture, as a particularly powerful sidekick from Akane had struck Blackfire in her unguarded mid-section and thrown her against the far wall of the dojo, some 15 feet away. Nabiki could see the faint spider-webbing of the plaster where the dark-haired girl had hit, and internally grimaced as she calculated how much the repairs from this 'friendly match' was going to take out of the families budget. Despite the hard hit, Blackfire simply shook her head and gave her opponent a feral, savage grin before leaping back into the fray with a gleeful cackle. The only thing more surprising than Blackfire's wide smile after being floored, which possibly belied some kind of masochistic streak, was that Akane was grinning as well.

Shaking her head as she considered the downsides to a person's mental state that came from studying martial arts, and all the blunt force trauma that came with it, Nabiki slid the door to the dojo closed again and left her sister to brawl with her brother-in-law's girlfriend.

 **OOOOOO**

Akane was in pain.

She ached. She throbbed. She burned. She twitched.

But she wasn't angry.

Laying on her back while staring at the ceiling of the dojo, panting heavily following her match with Blackfire, Akane couldn't stop smiling. Even though her body felt like she'd been dragged across a mile of poorly maintained asphalt, the bluenette internally cheered because she finally understood what it meant to be taken seriously as a martial artist.

Her father, God bless him, couldn't bring himself to hurt his baby girl following the tragic death of their mother. He'd taught her all the proper forms for kata's and strikes, as well as exercises to build her muscles enough to withstand the rigors of combat, but he only agreed to spar with her after a ludicrous amount of arm twisting and even then, treated her with all the delicacy of a china doll. Since he'd all but shut down the dojo when he found himself a widower, Akane also never had a true sparring partner, as her sisters were too busy fulfilling roles in the family that their mother couldn't do anymore.

Then she'd started High School, and Kuno made his ridiculous challenge.

And Akane found out that while he'd never hit her, her father had taught her _very_ well, as none of the perverts at school could lay a hand on her, even the ones who were supposed to learning how to fight. Karate, sumo, fencing, boxing, and even the star of the Kendo team couldn't touch her. At the time, she'd been so focused on the idiocy of a bunch of boys thinking they could get a date without asking her like a normal person that she wasn't able to appreciate how much more skilled she was than them. But then the fights had dragged on, and no matter how hard she hit Kuno, he and the horde kept coming back. By dint of sheer stubbornness, they continued to attack her, and deep in Akane's heart, doubts had begun to form.

If she was truly a martial artist, shouldn't she have beaten them by now?

If they were able to assault her day-after-day, does that mean she wasn't hurting them?

If she wasn't hurting them, then why were they pretending otherwise?

While the anger at the hormonal stupidity had insisted she just needed to punch them harder until they backed off, which is what she trained herself for in the weeks following Kuno's proclamation, there was still a niggling doubt that she wasn't as good a fighter as she'd always believed and her various pursuer's had been letting her win. Then Ranma had arrived and thoroughly schooled her, seemingly without effort, and that seed of doubt took root.

The sparring match with Blackfire tugged very hard at the insecure weed growing in her spirit, for many of the same reasons that the dark-haired girl had laid out regarding the willingness of the horde to brave her wrath. Unlike a certain blathering swordsman, Blackfire had no reason to restrain herself against the youngest of the Tendo daughters. Obviously there would be something held back as this wasn't a duel to the death, but otherwise, there was nothing but absolute honesty in their full-contact spar.

As Akane mulled over the outcome of the match, which had been Blackfire's win if only by a slim margin, a soft giggle turned into low groan when she wondered if this is what _shonen_ manga's meant about fighters being able to 'speak with their fists'. Without moving from her (at the moment) cozy resting place on the floor, Akane called, "Neh, Komand'r-san?"

Blackfire, sitting nearby with her back against the wall of the dojo, her head lolled back as she wearily wondered if the supposedly normal human would someday have enough strength to break a Tamaranean's bones, replied wearily, "Yeah, Akane?"

"...You hit _really_ hard."

Blackfire quietly laughed, the admiration and pleased surprise in the bluenette's voice heartening her, and easing a few of the aliens doubts regarding the relationship her friend/teacher/lover might have with the otherwise temperamental girl. "Thanks. You hit really hard too."

"Thanks."

The two sat in a companionable silence for a little while, before Akane managed to push herself up onto her elbows, wincing as she looked over her shoulder to her mildly bruised opponent. "Neh, Komand'r-san? What did you mean about Ranma liking me?"

Blackfire noticed the mild blush on Akane's face and gave the bluenette a knowing smile. "Yesterday, when we saw you tear through those idiots? The glorbag had a goofy grin on his face right before Kuno showed himself."

There was a temptation to think her perverted fiancee had been getting off on watching her smack down the horde, but that temptation was fueled by her frustration with the engagement, which was in very short supply at the moment. Instead, Akane asked, "Why is that?"

"Well," Blackfire began airily, as though she was more clueless than she really was. "If I had to guess...after all, I'm not a mindreader-"

Akane spat out a laugh, which quickly turned into a high-pitched squeak of _"Ite!"_ From the protest of her battered abs.

"-it's because Ranma doesn't want to settle down with a girl who's a…" the dark-haired girl looked curiously at the bluenette. "What's the phrase for the supposedly 'ideal' woman? _Yamato Nadeshiko_?"

" _Hai_." Akane affirmed with a small nod as she thought to herself. "Then, Ranma doesn't want the perfect girl?"

"If by perfect, you mean a spineless; _'yes darling' , 'of course my husband' , 'whatever you say sweetheart'_ , then yeah, Ranma doesn't want that." Blackfire's derisive tone made it clear that she had a rather low opinion on that subject as well. "This might be one of the few things Ranma ever benefitted from being raised by his dad, because he was _never_ around girls for a long period of time before I showed up, and **I** ended up showing him that not all girls are frail little creampuffs who stay at home and care for their husbands because they're too weak to do anything on their own."

Akane's eyes narrowed. "Where the hell would he get…" She trailed off as Blackfire gave her a flat look, making the bluenette grumble, "Oh..."

"Yeah. Genma's particular brand of 'Motivation through Spite' was to call Ranma 'weak and girly' and that he needed to 'act like a man'. Which is funny coming from the panda, because I only had to thrash him once before he cut that shit out." Blackfire and Akane shared an evil grin at that, before the dark-haired girl gave something resembling a relieved sigh. "When we met, Ranma realized that girls aren't as weak as his old man implied, and if he had to choose between a girly-girl or a 'tomboy', then he'd rather be with someone who wasn't totally helpless."

Seeing the connection between the dark-haired girl's remarks and Ranma's supposed enjoyment of her morning trial, Akane's cheeks reddened and she gave a soft, "Oh…"

"Yeah, seeing that you take the art as seriously as he does, even if you need more training, made him feel a lot better about this engagement."

Still blushing, Akane finished sitting up and looked away from Blackfire as she murmured quietly, " _Ano_...it's too soon...and we didn't choose-"

"I'm not saying he's already picking out a ring and planning the honeymoon." Blackfire rolled her eyes. "It just means you both share an interest. Although, he's probably wishing he was out buying a wedding ring right now."

Akane's eyes bugged and she turned around, grimacing as the sudden twist brought several uncomfortable clenches to her muscles even as she blurted, "What did you say?!"

Figuring that it was now safe to reveal her diabolical scheme, Blackfire's emotional dam cracked as she gave a malicious giggle, which grew louder when she saw Akane's shocked expression. "Ranma is wishing he was buying an engagement ring, cause if she was wearing one, that _varblernook_ wouldn't be asking 'the tree-borne kettle girl' out on a **date**!"

Akane's jaw-dropped as the otherwise calm and collected Blackfire spasmed with glee. Then she began to giggle as well. Soon enough, the dojo echoed with the laughter of the two girls, interspersed occasionally with brief gasps of _"Ite!"_ from Akane and while Blackfire howled, _"Hahahahaha-Ow! Ow! Oh, it hurts to laugh!"_

 **OOOOOO**

Ranma-chan walked into the Tendo home, still holding the bouquet of roses in her arms as her shock and mute horror of the kendoist's proclamation of love had robbed her of her higher brain functions. It was for this same reason that she'd taken off her shoes and dimly announced, "I'm home…" before realizing that Blackfire was leaning against the wall opposite the door, near the hallway entrance and watching the redhead with one of the biggest shit-eating grins Ranma-chan had ever seen her wear before.

Looking from the roses to Ranma-chan's stunned expression, Blackfire asked cheerfully, "Victory trophy?"

Ranma-chan shook her head slowly.

"Consolation prize?"

Another shake.

Blackfire snorted rudely before saying in the high-pitched voice of someone stifling a gut-busting laugh, "Well, at least Kuno isn't Akane's problem anymore!"

Ranma-chan's eye twitched. Then she stalked up to the giggling alien and silently thrust the bouquet into Blackfire's arms. As the redhead silently walked away from the now uncontrollably howling alien, she wondered how things could possibly get any worse.

 **-NSFW-ish content below/Ranma has no genre savvy-**

(If you want to avoid, scroll until _italics_ are gone)

 _The smell of grass mixed with the scent of Blackfire's body underneath him, making their coupling all the sweeter for Ranma as she cooed his name._

 _"Glad we found this place, Komie-chan?" he asked, knowing what the answer would be as the sunlight across her bare skin brought a renewed appreciation for her beauty._

 _"I **love** it, Ranma!" His lover's voice rose in delight and desire, the singing birds overhead blending with her lyrical moans. Then, she started to shiver in a way that he knew all too well and gasped, "It-it's so good! X'hal, Ranma; there's only one thing that could make this **perfect**!"_

 _Seeing her eyes brighten, and smiling widely at the warning sign for his girlfriend's imminent departure for the land of clouds and rain, Ranma replied, "And I know what that is, Komie-chan!" before suddenly shifting gears. The change in tempo brought a surprised, wordless shout from Blackfire, which was soon muffled against his lips as he amplified her pleasure with a perfectly timed kiss, until her voice rose several octaves and a bright light registered through his closed eyes, bringing a smile to his face as he stilled his motions to better enjoy the fruits of his labors._

 _Soon enough, Komand'r's breathing slowed and her appreciative moans faded into whimpers of grateful relief as he broke their kiss and looked down at her flushed, smiling face with a mixture of affection and pride in a job well done. "There you go," Ranma offered cheerily. "Perfect, like you said."_

 _"That was wonderful." Blackfire admitted breathlessly, when her mouth suddenly twisted into a coy, mischievous grin he'd come to appreciate more with every day. "But not what I was talking about."_

 _"Oh?" Ranma returned her grin as he started to move once more. "So it's my turn then?"_

 _"Heehee, kinda."_

 _He had enough time to blink quizzically at her cheery reply when Blackfire snapped her fingers, and he gasped as a sudden deluge of cold water rained down from above, soaking the both of them and activating his curse. While the sight of water clinging like dew to his lover's body was even more arousing, Ranma-chan suddenly lacked the wherewithal and equipment to truly show his appreciation as she sputtered, "Nani!? Komie, how'd you do that!?"_

 _"Little trick I learned out in space." She replied with that same smile. "I can summon cold water anytime I want."_

 _"Why didn't you use it before now!?"_

 _"No reason to. But now I've got a VERY good reason," the dark-haired girl's smile turned even more wicked and Ranma-chan quietly gasped as her girlfriend's hands slid along her thighs._

 _"A-as girls!?" Ranma gulped, finding herself on the backfoot while her sensitive skin was massaged by gloriously soft hands. "B-but we've never done this before!"_

 _"First time for everything..." Blackfire whispered huskily. "But don't worry, baby, I got someone to help us out."_

 _The smell of the grass faded, and the birdsong became muted as Ranma asked, "Help? From who?"_

 _In the unexpected silence, a voice from behind Ranma-chan saying "Pigtailed girl..." Made a shot of ice race down her spine._

(...Nooo…)

 _Slowly turning to look over her shoulder, a feeling of dread bloomed in her heart as a figure approached through an inexplicable fog that Ranma swore hadn't been there a second ago._

(No, no, no…!)

 _Ranma-chan's mouth went dry and her eyes widened in horror as the mist parted and Tatewaki Kuno stepped into view, fully unclothed as he determinedly looked at her and declared, "Pigtailed girl...Saotome...I love you."_

(nonononoNoNoNoNoNONONONONO-!)

 **OOOOOO**

Ranma shot out of bed with a scream of " **FUUUUUUU** -!", soaked with cold sweat as he quickly looked around. Realizing he was back in the guest bedroom of the Tendo home, his breathing eased as he slowly got his heartbeat under control.

After a few moments of quietly repeating "Just a dream...it was just a dream…" as a soothing mantra, the door to the guest room cracked open and Blackfire peeked in. While somewhat happy to see her, the wicked smile on her face brought all sorts of negative connotations to Ranma's current mood and he shuddered as the dark-haired girl asked cheerily, "What's the matter, Ranma? Bad dream?"

"You have no idea…" Ranma replied with a nervous swallow, to which Blackfire chuckled lightly. After a moment, he murmured, "Neh, Komie-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"You...can't summon cold water, can you?"

Blackfire blinked. "Uhh...I'd have told you if I could, so no."

"Y...you'd never...you and me...with another guy…" Ranma's head slowly turned to give his girlfriend a haunted, pleading look. "Would you?"

As she was still amused by the situation involving Kuno being attracted to Ranma's cursed form, Blackfire should have lost herself in a hysterical fit at her beau's over-reaction to being asked on a date.

Except...his question now had _her_ mental gears turning, and the alien's expression shut down, completely dead eye'd as she asked calmly, "Saotome. Did you have a dream about you, me...and _Kuno_?"

Ranma nodded mutely.

Blackfire's eye twitched. "No, Saotome. I would not be a part of a 3-way with you and Kuno, and I'm frankly insulted you thought you had to ask me that."

Ranma blushed and looked down. "Sorry...I was just worried-"

"Yeah, well I'm so glad you're feeling better," Blackfire growled before she walked away, throwing out over her shoulder, "Cause now, _I'm_ going to be having nightmares about that _varblernook_ coming at me with his **stick**! See if I try to help you out again!"

While Ranma wanted to apologize to her...a small part of him cheered from a strange unexplained sense that the karmic scales had rebalanced.

OOOOOO

That night, Blackfire stepped into her and Nabiki's shared room, stretching as she thanked genetics for Tamaranean healing. A little sunlight, some food, and the bruises she'd gotten from her fight with Akane were already fading.

As she pulled off her shirt, and made a mental note to expand her wardrobe now that she was back in something resembling civilization, Blackfire caught sight of a manila envelope sitting on Nabiki's desk with the pile of paperwork the ice queen had dubbed, 'the household finances'. As the page-cut brunette was downstairs watching tv, Blackfire smiled and walked over to the desk and decided to do some snooping.

 **OOOOOO**

Nabiki yawned as she headed for her room, already anticipating the fluffiness of her pillow and the relief that sleep would bring.

But when she opened her door, and found a topless Blackfire oh-so-casually examining several photographs while sitting on the edge of Nabiki's bed, the brunette's expected relief morphed into very present shock with a hint of dread.

"It's funny…" Blackfire mused as she critically eye'd a picture of Ranma-chan in girlform, splayed out across a mattress for a mid-afternoon nap wearing boxers and a white wifebeater. "You wouldn't think a girl could run her family's finances, a series of betting pools and junior scale spy ring, **and** have a hobby of amateur photography…" Her eyes flicked up to meet Nabiki's in a carefully neutral expression. "But I guess you learn something new everyday, don't you?"

The shock of Blackfire finding her photographs disappeared with impressive speed, and Nabiki quickly adopted a cold, calculating expression. "Mind if I ask why you were sticking your nose into my personal business?"

Blackfire's eyes hardened ever-so-slightly. "Only after you tell me why you're taking pictures of your sister and Ranma, and if I'm interpreting your notes correctly…" She tilted her head towards Nabiki's desk, where some of the brunette's financial records were laid open. "Selling them to guys at school?"

Now it was a fight to retain her poise, though the Ice Queen rallied magnificently under the added pressure of having one of her more...morally grey business ventures revealed. Crossing her arms, Nabiki declared impassively, "I'm doing my best to keep this family afloat. I don't know if you noticed, but we don't have much in the way of students."

"Oh, I did notice that." Blackfire flicked through the pictures and found one of Akane lifting weights, which she flipped around and showed to the brunette. "Except your sister, who's learning how to fight for free."

"She is the heir to the school."

"And you still found a way to make money off of her. Or more specifically," Blackfire's eyes narrowed. "Off of the _varblernook_. Since I don't think the other jackasses at school would be buying pin-ups of her showing off her 'fierce spirit'." the dark-haired girl enjoyed the momentary silence and privately approved of how her roommate didn't even flinch at the accusation. "Don't worry though, I'm not going to tell Akane about your little scheme."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. " You're not?"

"No. She's your family. Why should I care if you abuse her trust to make some money?" Blackfire offered amicably as she stood up, setting the pictures to the side and hiding her smirk as that last comment had brought a reaction from Nabiki, albeit only a slight narrowing of her eyes. Facing the brunette, Blackfire adopted a very wide, cheerful smile that wouldn't have looked out of place on Kasumi...save it carried all the warmth and sweetness of a sugar-coated razorblade. "What I do care about, is why you spread that rumor about me having a crush on Kuno?"

Nabiki swore she could hear her molars grinding as she gritted her teeth, internally cursing the day Blackfire had shown up on her families doorstep. The damn _gaijin_ was matching wits with her from the word go, but she refused to admit she was outgunned yet. After a moment of spinning her wheels, Nabiki adopted a carefully amused smirk and replied, "You can't guess, Komand'r-san?"

"Oh, I've got guesses." Blackfire's eyes narrowed slightly. "And my number one is that you wanted to keep the money flowing in from betting pools on Akane's brawls. And I'll tell you the same thing I told the _panda_ yesterday; I will **not** be used. By you, him, or anyone else."

The tense atmosphere thickened noticeably, while Nabiki maintained her well-honed expression of amused superiority as she said, "Oh, Komand'r-san. I thought you knew me better than that."

"How so?"

"I didn't put that out because it would make me money, although that's a very nice bonus at the moment." The brunette's eyes narrowed and her smirk turned slightly more wicked. "I did it cause it was _funny_."

Blackfire's eyes widened. The sheer _chutzpah_ of the Ice Queen had almost floored the villainess, and despite herself, her ire retreated just enough for a corner of her lips to quirk up in a small smile. "Oh, you _are_ a bitch."

"Hmm, you would know, wouldn't you? After all, great minds do think alike."

At that, Blackfire chuckled, and Nabiki's grin turned slightly less malicious and more genuine as her roommate said, "Alright then, since we've got that out in the open, I'll level with you. I can handle the new rumors about me and the _varblernook_ , and the pictures you're hawking on campus. But there is one thing that's got me a little peeved at you right now."

"And that is?"

The dark-haired girl adopted an expression that made Nabiki stiffen. Half-lidded eyes and a very subtle curve to Blackfire's lips that said someone was in for a fun night as she stepped forward, almost gliding across the middle Tendo daughters carpet until she was in front of Nabiki, making the brunette fight to maintain her calm and detached poise as Blackfire purred, "You know I'm looking for a way to earn my keep around here, right?"

"Right." Nabiki thanked the Kami that she managed to keep a stutter out of her voice as a few traitorous braincell's made her eyes flicker towards the dark-haired girls lips and put out a decidedly unwarranted curiosity to find out if they were as soft as they looked, though she managed to suppress those same hormonally corrupted thoughts before her gaze went below Komand'r's collarbone.

"Well, would you rather rely on pure luck to get candid photo's of Ranma or your sister to make your bank?" Blackfire smirked victoriously. "Or have a stable source of material at your disposal...for a price."

While she'd maintained her poise so far, there was the tiniest of breaks in the mask as Nabiki's eyes widened fractionally. Though for anyone who knew her, it would be fair to say that this was the equivalent of her jaw falling through the floor in shock. "You want me to take pictures of you?"

"No, I want you to _pay_ me for the privilege of taking pictures of me." Blackfire corrected Nabiki cheerfully. "Because if you try sneaking pictures of me and selling them on campus, we'll see if **you** can handle a sparring match like your little sister can."

Eyes narrowing at the threat, Nabiki replied coldly, "You obviously don't want a job that badly, if you're starting things off by threatening your boss."

Blackfire chuckled. "Just letting you know where I stand. And besides, you've got a good head for business. Think of how much more money you'll make with a subject who knows how to turn guys on, and is going to help you with that?"

Considering that she was struggling mightily against her own hormones due to the proximity of an exotic beauty who was giving off an aura that screamed 'do bad bad things to me', Nabiki could easily imagine the profits of such an enterprise. After a moment, she gave a noncommittal shrug and admitted, "I'll think about it."

"That's all I ask," Blackfire purred as she made her way to her bedroll and pack of clothes.

As she pulled out another boys T-shirt, Nabiki cocked an eyebrow and said "You do need your own wardrobe, don't you?"

Blackfire chuckled as she pulled the shirt over her head. "What, this? This isn't why I need a some of my own clothes." grabbing the hem of the shirt, the dark-haired girl took a deep breath and sighed contentedly. "This just makes it a bit easier to sleep at night. Plus, it drives Ranma _nuts_ when I do this."

Nabiki gave a light laugh as she walked over to her desk, while Blackfire pulled a book titled Famous Myths and their Interpretations from her bookbag and started reading it. Until the last of the lights faded and the need for sleep made itself known, the two girls shared a companionable sort of silence.

But as the two girls drifted off to sleep, Nabiki gratefully mused, (Thank god she didn't find the latest pictures)

OOOOOO

On their way to school yet again, Ranma watched Akane from the fence he was strolling along with curiousity and more than a little concern, noticing her wince every now and then as they walked. Recalling the 'match' between her and Blackfire that he'd heard all the way up in the guest room of the Tendo home, the pigtailed boy asked hesitantly, "Hey, Akane? Are you okay?"

While feeling a little envious of how quickly Blackfire had recovered from the pounding she'd gotten the day before, Akane was nevertheless breathing easier than she had in a long time with the knowledge that she'd given the deceptively stronger girl a run for her money. While there was still a gap between her skills and those of her fiancee and his...friend, she took more than a fair bit of comfort from the slight twinges of pain, thinking of them as marks of respect that she'd rightfully earned. With all that in mind, Akane gave Ranma a reassuring smile, not even feeling annoyed with his 'showing off' by balancing on the fence as she replied, "Yep. As a matter-of-fact, I feel fine."

"You sure?" Ranma hopped down off of the fence, privately noting to himself how a smile suited Akane so much more than the angry looks he'd seen over the last few days as he opined, "Cause it looks like you're hurting a bit. Was Komie-chan rough with you or something?"

There was a tiny twinge of annoyance from the feeling that she was being treated like a porcelain doll, but it did nothing to dampen the bluenette's mood. In fact, it actually put her in a mind to try a different tactic, and she internally giggled at Ranma's sudden tense posture when she smiled at him in what she thought was a decent imitation of his girlfriends habitual Cheshire Cat grin. "Hmm...I think I gave as good as I got, if that's what you mean. Besides, I'm _more_ than fine enough to handle those perverts in the horde."

The bluenette's confident declaration made Ranma feel relieved, even as he quietly cursed himself for letting Komand'r 'influence' his fiancee in some way. Unfortunately, her comment on the horde brought the thought of seeing Kuno to Ranma's mind, and his shuddered in disgust before asking grimly, "Don't suppose you'd be willing to let me smack down that blowhard?"

With the information from Blackfire on what had brought Ranma out to meet Kuno last night, Akane had to fight back a laugh at the grim expression on Ranma's face. Knowing that he was looking to satisfy a personal score rather than 'protect her', which would have earned him a beating on it's own right, Akane merely smirked at the pigtailed boy and offered, "How about we race for it?"

Ranma blinked quizzically. "Race? What kind of race?"

"I'll make a beeline for Kuno today, instead of smashing all of those perverts in the horde, and whoever gets there first can pound him flat."

Ranma chuckled despite himself. "Come on, you're gonna have a handicap, and that ain't fair."

"Oh, I don't know…" Akane side-eyed her fiance and smiled thinly. "I think you're gonna need a few moments to...strengthen your resolve to face Kuno-sempai. Neh, 'tree-borne kettle-girl'?"

Ranma froze, eyes wide as Akane continued walking away from him. The smile on the bluenette's face grew bigger and bigger, until the morning's silence was broken by an incensed voice shouting, "WHAT THE HELL DID KOMIE TELL YOU!?"

Ranma's only answer was his fiancee's delighted laughter as she took advantage of his shock to get a headstart on their race.

 **OOOOOO**

Blackfire chortled with glee, having watched Akane and Ranma both give Kuno a simultaneous boot-to-da-head before dashing into Furinkan High School without a second look. "Oh, this is just beautiful!"

"Hmm. It almost seems like they're getting along." Nabiki mused thoughtfully before giving her manipulative roommate an appraising look. "Whatever you're doing to get them together seems to be working."

"Thank you, but I don't think that's because of me encouraging them." Blackfire admitted graciously. "I think that's just Ranma being pissed at the _varblernook_ for yesterday."

Nabiki cocked an eyebrow curiously "The duel? Do you know what happened?"

Blackfire gave Nabiki a sneaky, malicious grin. "I have a good idea. And it's a lot like why you told everyone I was _tsundere_ for Kuno. And _Chuunibyou_ , whatever the hell that is."

The villainess blinked at the sound of a choked snort, and turned to look curiously at the brunette who was holding her stomach and hunched over, clearly fighting back great belly laughs.

Blackfire's eyes narrowed, but before she could ask why Nabiki looked like _she_ had yesterday, the teacher came in and told everyone to get in their seats.

 **OOOOOO**

Blackfire stood up and stretched as the lunch bell rang, prompting Nabiki to look quizzically at her as she reached for her bookbag and the bento within with one hand. "What're you doing?"

"Going to the library." Blackfire tossed out idly as she picked her own bookbag off the floor. "I need to look up some things."

"Fair enough." Nabiki admitted before giving Blackfire a teasing grin. "Does that something include-"

"Yes." Blackfire offered disdainfully, refusing to look back at the smirking Ice Queen, who'd offered to explain the additional cultural term she'd been labeled with, for a significant price. Once again the knowledge of a know-it-all grin kept Blackfire from going into debt with the money-minded girl, though Nabiki did inform her that she wasn't responsible for that addition to the rumor mill.

As she left the room, Blackfire paused in the doorway, smiling as Kuno approached Nabiki with a stuffed panda, which was tossed onto the middle Tendo's desk. Her patience paid off when Kuno said something, and Blackfire could guess what it was, that made Nabiki do a spit-take straight into Kuno's face. Laughing loudly, Blackfire made her way to the library to figure out how to unravel the fuster-cluck she was now involved in.

 **OOOOOO**

"Here's the set, Kuno-chan. Do we have a deal?"

"So pure and innocent! Sold!"

"I aim to please...oh, and I have a special set for Akane today...at double the price."

"Double!? Surely you jest, even **I** have limits to my appreciation of she who fights with the ferocity of an amazon!"

"Well, that's just it, Kuno. These pics twice as expensive, because it's a 2-for-1 special. Here…"

"...sold...and you will tell **no one** of this."

"That's extra, Kuno-chan."

"Grrr…"

 **OOOOOO**

The librarian looked up, scowling darkly at the sound of splintering wood from somewhere in the stacks of books. Moving quickly, the wizened old woman found a dark-haired girl she marginally recognized as a new transfer student, who was glaring at thick magazine in front of her, one of her hands clenched so tightly on the table that her fingers were biting into the wood as she snarled, _"it's my freaking **name**_ _you braindead bass-ackwards apes! Not an edgy X'hal-damned nickname I made up to be_ unique _, you-"_

"Komand'r-san." The librarian declared coolly as she approached the dark-haired teen, who immediately narrowed her eyes at the older woman, clearly displeased with her presence at the moment. "Do not damage school property inside the library, or you will be reprimanded _severely_."

Blackfire withdrew her fingers from the tabletop, but smirked mockingly at the librarian as she asked, "Yeah? How severely?

The old woman's eye twitched, then she pushed her glasses up her nose, the light reflecting off the lenses hiding her eyes as she smiled in a way that sent a chill down Blackfire's spine as she said, "Ahh, you're new to Nerima, yes? Then I will show you."

The woman looked to a nearby shelf, one eyebrow cocked curiously as she reached out and pulled a thick tome from the shelf. She tsked and said, "Now, some careless student has put this book in the wrong place. Such a bother."

Blackfire looked incredulously at the librarian, and opened her mouth to ask what she was playing at, when the book the old woman was holding was lightly tossed into the air with the flick of her wrist. The book spun lazily as it arced downwards, dropping just behind the old woman's shoulder when the librarian brought her arm up and rapped the spine of the book with the back of her hand with all the force of a gentle breeze.

The book shot out and slammed into a bookshelf some 20 feet behind the librarian, slotting perfectly into an empty space in a row that was now completely filled and sending the 10-foot by 30-foot wooden shelf rocking back several inches, before settling down flat on the floor again with a deceptively loud rumble.

Blackfire stared at the shelf, her jaw nearly touching the tabletop as the librarian adjusted her glasses again and gave the teenager a cold look. "Nerima is an _energetic_ place, Komand'r-san. And the librarians here take their duties very seriously, as we are prepared to protect such precious knowledge from any who would damage it. Understood?"

"...Yeah...message received." Blackfire affirmed with a slow nod. As the older woman nodded in return and walked away, the alien mused quietly, "And I thought _Yutracknian_ Secret-Keeper's were scary…" before returning to her studies.

While not wholly against the idea of learning precisely what the middle Tendo had set in motion regarding her and Kuno, and more importantly, how to counter it; Blackfire's predominant reason for perusing local magazines and catalogues was as simple as it was familiar. She formulating a plan to screw someone over, and do it in such away that would cause a great deal of misery for someone she didn't like, and reap a very nice benefit as a bonus.

As her finger ran across the tiny, easily missed advertisement for _'Lo Xion's Curiosity's'_ , a shop that supposedly specialized in Chinese import's, a wide smile spread across the Tamaranean's face and she softly whispered, "Gotcha."

 _"...do you want, Kuno?"_

Blackfire blinked and looked up from the paper, hearing a very familiar voice coming from somewhere nearby, followed by another voice that she dimly recognized. Getting out of her seat, she followed the sounds to an open window some distance away just as her current nemesis and totally unwanted love interest snapped, _"Quoth Nabiki Tendo, 'if you want the pig-tailed girl to receive your gift, you must give it to Saotome Ranma! Explain how you know of the pig-tailed girl immediately!"_

(Oh, _bitch!_ ) Blackfire thought to herself as she peeked out the window, spotting Ranma and Kuno standing outside and off to her left. While she couldn't see the expression on Ranma's face, it wasn't hard for her to imagine his disgust at being singled out by his puckish possibly-sister-in-law. (Not that it isn't kinda funny, but still…)

Blackfire's quiet appreciation for Nabiki's set up was interrupted by Ranma coldly declaring, _"Forget it, Kuno."_ as he tossed a stuffed panda back into Kuno's hands, and made to walk past him. When he stopped and said something out of the corner of his mouth that Blackfire couldn't hear, Kuno's eyes widened in shock and a smile spread across her face as Ranma walked away from him.

Spotting another window on a nearby wall, where Ranma had just rounded the corner outside, Blackfire made her way over and threw it open just as the pigtailed boy walked past, calling out "Hey, Saotome!" as she did.

"Komie?" Ranma looked surprised as he stopped and turned to the smiling girl. "What're you doing?"

"I was reading, up until I heard you chatting with the varblernook." She replied with a wicked smirk. "What was that last thing you said to him? You tell him you don't swing that way?"

Ranma turned faintly green and shook himself out before vehemently shouting, "NO! I said if I had anything to say about it, he'd never see the pig-tailed girl again!"

Blackfire's smile disappeared immediately and she gave a flat, "You what."

Seeing her slightly narrowed eyes and recognizing her tone, Ranma rolled his eyes and said, "Komie, don't start with me, okay? I'm not going to tell him about my curse-"

"No, you're just going to tell him you'd rather **imprison** a girl than let her out of your sight, you _glorbag varblernook_!"

Ranma reeled back as Blackfire snarled at him, leaning out of the window with her eyes glowing in fury. While somewhat afraid of how angry she apparently was, her words sank into his mind and Ranma's mouth dropped open as he blurted, " _NANI!?_ I didn't say that!"

"That's **exactly** what you said!" Blackfire snapped. "Or at least that's what you _implied_! What in _X'hal's_ name were you-"

Blackfire yanked her head back with a yipe as a sudden deluge fell from above, narrowly missing her head while Ranma was completely soaked with water, triggering his curse and leaving Blackfire to stare at a dumbfounded redhead. Looking up, Blackfire caught an upturned bucket being held out the window by a pair of hands, and heard a voice call from somewhere above them. _"Oi! Be careful, what if someone was down there!?"_

 _"Oh relax."_ Replied a slightly closer, and much more blasé feminine voice as the bucket was withdrawn from view. _"What's the worst that could happen?"_

Blackfire's eye twitched, and her irritation focused on the latest weapon in the arsenal of Ranma's curse as she shouted, "THERE WAS SOMEONE DOWN HERE, YOU SELF-CENTERED _PLUBARK_!"

A half second later, a brown-haired, glasses-wearing girl poked her head out the upper window, looking down with an angry expression as she shouted, "WHAT'D YOU CALL ME, YOU-"

The girl's ire disappeared in a choked gurgle, as she'd barely registered the sopping wet redheaded girl who she thought was the one that had shouted, to find that she was being focused on by a pair of small, violet searchlights as some new transfer student from another class was looking at her furiously. With an 'eep!' of fright, the senior ducked back inside and slammed the window shut.

"YOU BETTER RUN, BITCH!" Blackfire shouted before an outraged Kuno, who'd apparently recovered from whatever shocked stupor Ranma had accidentally put him into, rounded the corner or the building while shouting, "What did you mean by that, Saotome!?"

Despite herself, Blackfire couldn't help but smile as Kuno spun Ranma-chan towards him, the redhead wearing an expression of supreme disdain while Kuno registered the girl before him and smiled widely as he declared, "It's you! The pig-tailed girl, is it not?"

"Well, whaddya know, you found her." Blackfire mused with a smirk.

Ranma-chan shot her friend a betrayed look before Kuno grabbed her shoulders and said, "How I have missed you so!"

While the swordsmans's passionate declaration may have swooned the average girl, (or at least one that didn't know a thing about the tall swordsman) Ranma-chan responded to his affections and proximity by shouting, "Hands off!" And slugging him full in the face.

Blackfire cocked an eyebrow at that, as she'd expected Kuno to do more than lean back and adopt an expression that broadcast his internal musing of (well, that's a thing that just happened). She then burst out laughing when the kendoist called and raised his previous violation of Ranma-chan's personal space by wrapping her in a tight hug and saying, "I shall never let you go!"

"Oh my _X'hal_!" Blackfire cackled while Ranma-chan's eye twitched in outrage and disbelief, moments away from pounding Kuno into the ground like a railroad spike. "I should be selling _tickets_!"

"Oh, good idea, Kurohi-san."

Blackfire turned towards the voice approaching Ranma and Kuno from behind the pigtailed teen in question. She smiled at the sight of Nabiki, but mostly at Nabiki's cargo as the bobcut brunette was carrying a teakettle up to the pair and offering dryly, "But it's a little too late for that, now, so all we can do is salvage whatever we can of this situation."

"Salvage away, roomie." Blackfire declared with a wide, happy smile as Nabiki walked straight up behind Ranma and, without either Kuno or his unrequited-and-about-to-pulverize-him love interest noticing, poured the contents of the kettle onto the mass of redhair in Kuno's arms.

As Ranma let out several pained squawks and steam rose from her/his head, Blackfire cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Nabiki as she said, "Oh, sorry Ranma-kun. Was that too hot?"

"If you have to ask, then yes." Blackfire stated dryly as she wasn't too keen on ruining what would be a good memory for Ranma when the blowhard realized the truth about his 'kettle-girl'.

On that note, Kuno uttered a quizzical, "Ranma?" And Blackfire focused all her attention on the kendoist as he pulled back and stared at the dark-haired boy in his arms. Obviously done dealing with Kuno's particular brand of lunacy, Ranma snapped, "Hands off!" Before planting the bottom of one of his slippered feet square against Kuno's face, and Blackfire set off an internal timer until the _varblernook's_ glorious reaction to finding out he'd pined for another man.

Although, she felt a brief flash of sympathy for her friend and former-lover as he flipped his pigtail over his shoulder and muttered, "Now do you get it, Kuno?" before slowly walking away from the stunned kendoist. While it would cause trouble to have his curse become public knowledge, the alternative of having Kuno chasing after him would be worse in the long run, and far more likely to cause havoc with his life.

"I had no idea…" Kuno whispered softly as he stared at Ranma's back, as though seeing him for the first time.

Noting that he appeared to be taking the information of the true identity of his pigtailed girl rather well, Blackfire nonetheless grinned expectantly as she counted (4...3...2…), before suddenly finding herself with a mouthful of something she would have given _anything_ to never know the taste of.

Because while Blackfire had eaten many strange and exotic foods, (with occasional breaks for humble pie or crow) she'd never before eaten shit. Unfortunately, that's exactly what she did, at least metaphorically when Kuno's outraged shout of "Hold Saotome! Where have you hidden the pigtailed girl?!" made her facefault right out the window she was leaning out of and straight into the ground.

"I don't know what sorcery you used to spirit her away," Kuno went on while dramatically pointing at the thoroughly confused Ranma, who had stopped and turned back around following the swordsman's bass-ackwards but technically accurate accusation of legerdemain. "but you will return her at once!"

(He's not human.) Blackfire thought as she spat out the dirt that had gone into her mouth and glared at Kuno's back, seriously considering cleaning the gene pool by exterminating him before he had a chance to breed. (No sentient being could be this _X'hal_ -damned dense! How has his skull not collapsed in on itself?!)

"W-wait, Kuno!" Ranma waved his hands with an incredulous, strained expression as he said, "It's not like that at all!"

"Ohh, looks like we're going to have to spell it out for him." Nabiki said while giving Kuno a sympathetic look.

It was only the fact that Blackfire was too busy getting to her feet and angrily muttering as she brushed the dirt out of her dress that kept Nabiki from being called out on her obvious desire to cause mischief as she waved to her irate classmate and called, "Hey, Kuno-chan? Would you come here for a second?"

Looking suspiciously at Nabiki, Kuno nonetheless followed her as she moved a few steps away, while Ranma sent a glance at Blackfire and smirked slightly even as he asked, "You okay, Komie-chan?"

"Oh yeah, I'm just fantastic." Blackfire said acidically. "Except for the fact that everyone in this school thinks my standards are so low that I want to bang that braindead _varblernook_!"

Ranma chuckled lightly. "Not so much fun being on the receiving end, is it?" which earned him a flat look from Blackfire.

"...if you didn't know how to make me _app'ureesh_ , I would **end** you…"

Ranma blushed at that, but his smile didn't fade. Blackfire's did however, when she noticed Nabiki standing in front of Kuno, with her hands clasped in front of her and a starry-eye'd, overly dramatic expression of sorrow on her face. Seeing Kuno's shoulders lock up, Blackfire asked in a quiet, carefully neutral tone, "Saotome, what is Nabiki doing?"

"She said she was gonna explain what was going on to Kuno."

Blackfire turned to look at Ranma with wide, utterly flabbergasted eyes. "And you _LET_ her?!"

Ranma didn't have a chance to counter that, when Kuno screamed, "YOU _WRETCH_!" and suddenly turned and lunged at the pigtailed boy with a bokken that Blackfire swore hadn't been in Kuno's hand a second ago. Ranma easily dodged out of the way, and Kuno turned to face him, tears pouring down his face, which was twisted in a grimace of pure disgust and hatred as he intoned, "Vile fiend! How could you despoil such a pure and innocent creature!?"

As Kuno dramatically covered his face like he was too distraught to even look at Ranma, the pigtailed boy and Blackfire both shouted at Nabiki, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TELL HIM!?"

"What?" Nabiki said with a supremely indifferent shrug. "I just said you and the pigtailed girl were of one mind and one body."

" _Nani!?_ "

"You did WHAT!?"

Before Blackfire or Ranma could react, Kuno finished his non-combat posturing and shouted, "ENSLAVER OF WOMEN!" as he leapt into the air, slashing furiously at Ranma with a speed that Blackfire hadn't seen the Kendoist use up until now. While noting grimly that Kuno _had_ been holding back a lot against Akane, she ran over to Nabiki and snarled, "You have one chance to explain what the hell you were thinking before I make what Ranma does to Kuno look like a love-tap!"

"What?" Nabiki looked away from the brawl. "What are you-"

The middle Tendo stopped dead, her eyes widening in shock as her carefully managed facade of cool control melted under the violet lights emanating from Blackfire's eyes. No trick of the light, or reflection or any sort of mundane explanation would suffice for what Nabiki saw as the glowing-eye'd girl in front of her growled in a low, utterly livid voice, "Why the hell would you say something like that?!"

Nabiki quailed slightly under her suddenly **much** stranger roommates gaze, but not enough for her to admit the true reason for her unhelpful word choice regarding Ranma's circumstances. Using the fact that she was honestly freaked out by Blackfire's suddenly luminescent eye's to add a sheen of validity to her words, the Ice Queen stammered, "I-I-I thought it would be funny, because it sounded like Ranma was-"

The remainder of her words were swallowed back down as Blackfire's eyes only glowed brighter, and her expression turned more furious. "You lying _**prugnar**_! I should incin-!"

Both girls had paid only marginal attention to the fight, as Ranma was dancing around Kuno's blows like the swordsman was moving through tar. Then, the swordsman furiously shouted, "FOOL!" and Blackfire's eyes were pulled away from Nabiki as he struck again.

She'd seen Ranma take strong hits before.

She'd seen an ordinary human handle blows that would have wounded even a Tamaranean such as herself, were it not for her current circumstances.

But she'd also seen the loudmouthed swordsman cleave through tree limbs and shatter concrete with his seemingly ordinary hunk of wood.

So when Kuno hit Ranma square across his unguarded midsection, the fact that the pigtailed boy wasn't immediately bisected or bent like a capital-U brought a feeling of confident assurance in his abilities to the alien ex-princess.

But that came _after_ the brief half-second where her heart had stopped and she'd seized up in fear for her friend/lover's life.

While he was gingerly holding his right-side, Ranma otherwise gave no sign of being hit by Kuno and made to create some distance between them with a quick backstep. As Kuno closed in and renewed his assault, Blackfire's eyes narrowed as she saw that Ranma was again dodging around his strikes with ease, but now it was by a much narrower margin as he was snatching slips of paper that were fluttering in the air around the two fighters.

Seeing Ranma stare at the papers with an incensed expression, Blackfire's mind clicked on Nabiki's motivation for misleading Kuno. Rather than call her out on it immediately however, Blackfire shelved that little nugget for the right opportunity to show the so-called Ice Queen why she shouldn't have screwed with the Queen of the Universe. But while she formulated ways to hammer the nail into Nabiki for her deception, she caught sight of familiar figure standing behind a statue of some human or other, a little ways away from where Ranma and Kuno were fighting.

" _X'hal_ damn it, what's she doing here!?" Blackfire groaned in irritation, wishing that Akane hadn't been watching for too long, even as the alien pessimistically surmised that wishing for centauri moon diamond to drop out of the sky would have about as much chance of coming true. "This just keeps getting worse!"

"Why?" no longer under the semi-hypnotizing, or at least fear-inducing gaze of Blackfire, Nabiki likewise turned her calculating mind onto the fight. "Is Ranma going to lose?"

"Cause of that hit? No." Blackfire growled as she watched Ranma tumble from an irritated Kuno with a series of backwards somersaults, the kendoist seemingly having taken offense with his opponent not keeping his attention on their battle, and stopped at the feet of Akane. "The _varblernook_ doesn't have a chance, but your **sister** is watching Kuno go at Ranma a **lot** harder than he's ever fought against her, and that's gonna screw-up what little progress they've made towards being friends-"

As if to prove her point, Akane suddenly flushed beet-red and shouted something indecipherable, but clearly angry as she punted Ranma into the air, and straight towards Kuno. While Blackfire still had some small hope that Akane wouldn't get **too** much of an idea of just how much Kuno was disrespecting her abilities by not taking her seriously, that hope was crushed when the swordsman shouted "I STRIKE!" and his bokken blurred as he tried to stab Ranma with his blunted weapon. As if to punctuate the gap between the abilities he'd displayed to Akane and the power he brought to bear on Ranma, the monument Akane was standing next to began to splinter and shatter apropos of nothing, while Kuno continued his ineffectual assault on Ranma, several meters away.

"Wow," Nabiki breathed, not used to seeing Kuno get this serious with an opponent before, and realizing the full scope of the category-5 shitstorm brewing just off the horizon, thanks to Kuno and the horde's degradation of her sister's skills. "Just the airpressure from his strikes alone…"

Blackfire glared at Nabiki out of the corner of her eye, making the brunette flinch at the light and unless she was mistaken, a fair bit of heat emanating from the dark-haired girl's eyes. Before either could resume the interrogation or comment further on the fight, Ranma's voice calling, "Look out!" distracted them as Kuno capitalized on his opponent's weakness and lunged in. While he missed Ranma by a narrow margin, when Blackfire saw the pigtailed boy's foot move in a rising arc that seemed to pass in front of Kuno, and used the momentum to backflip away, she knew the fight was over. Calming down now that the violence had subsided, and not being too keen on revealing her own little secret before she was damn good and ready, Blackfire's eye's faded back to their normal, non-illuminated state as she side-eye'd Nabiki and coldly declared, "To be continued," Before going over to her beau, his fianceé, and the now collapsed swordsman.

"What happened?" Akane asked as she looked down at Kuno, not understanding how the upperclassman could have fallen just because Ranma swept his foot in front of him.

"Ranma kicked him." Blackfire replied as she reached the duo-technically-trio as Kuno was still present in body, if not in mind. As Akane flipped the swordsman onto his back, Blackfire nodded in satisfaction as she saw a series of shoe-prints running up Kuno's body, and afforded herself a small grin at one distinctive mark square across the blowhards mouth.

"Wow...every kick hit a vulnerable spot." Akane said with wide eyes, running over the only attack Ranma had made in her head. "I didn't even see it."

"Not too surprising." Ranma said as he stretched his hands behind his head. "He wasn't nearly as good as he thinks he is."

Akane stiffened at that, and Blackfire shot Ranma a pointed look. "Ranma. Kuno is out cold, so there's _no reason_ to **insult** him. _****Got it****_?"

Ranma looked blankly at Blackfire and asked, "What're you talking about, Komie? You did the same thing yesterday."

Eye twitching in indignation, Blackfire stalked over to Ranma and hissed in his ear, " ** _I_** am not your fiancee, who just found out how good Kuno really is, and **doesn't** need to hear you whacking off your own ego over beating him!"

Ranma's eyes widened and he looked at Akane again, remembering the theory Blackfire had put out the other day regarding Akane's abilities or lack thereof. He tried to think of something reassuring to say to her, but was mercifully saved from swallowing his achilles tendon when Akane turned to him with a concerned look and asked, "Are you sure about that? He did manage to hit you."

Despite himself, Ranma couldn't help but preen a little as he stretched casually and said, "Ah, that was nothin'." While ignoring the throbbing pain from the ribs on his right side.

Akane stepped forward and was about to check Ranma to make sure, except there was a blink-and-you'd-miss-it snarl from Blackfire, which gave the bluenette pause as the dark-haired girl fixed a wide, falsely cheery smile on her face as she said, "Oh really? Then _this_ ," She slapped a hand against Ranma's side, not harshly, but with a bit more force than a pat on the back. "Doesn't hurt?"

Ranma seized up and dropped to his knees, hissing in pain as Blackfire looked impassively at him. "Not as good as he thought, huh?" While Ranma shot her a one-eye'd glare, Blackfire noticed some of the paper's he'd been grabbing out of the air littering the ground. Digging out that chunk of material regarding Nabiki's motivation for bullshitting Kuno earlier, the alien gave the Ice Queen a slightly predatory grin before saying, "Oh? What's this?" and reaching for the discarded photographs.

Nabiki stiffened, but kept her expression carefully neutral as Blackfire gave a pronounced whistle and gestured to Akane, flashing the bluenette a picture of herself lifting a pair of barbells with a determined look. "Wow, you do good work, Nabiki!"

"What!?" Akane looked from Blackfire, to the picture, then to her fiancee who was holding more pictures, and then finally ending on her sister, who she gave a betrayed look and shouted, "Nee-san, how could you!?"

"What?" Nabiki smiled in a carefree way. "It's just a little hobby of mine."

Akane's groaned in disgust, while Blackfire idly said, "Well, this explains that 'one body one soul' thing you told Kuno."

"Huh?" Ranma looked curiously at Blackfire, still rubbing his sore spot as he got to his feet. "How's that?"

"Because of the blowhard keeps thinking you're two different people, then he'll keep buying pictures of your girlside." Blackfire replied matter-of-factly, before smirking at Ranma and adding, "What, you don't like having a fan, 'tree-borne kettle-girl'?"

Nabiki had a small hope, that among the pictures Kuno had purchased earlier, her latest editions weren't among those that had fallen out of his hakama and thus she could escape from here with her hide intact, having suddenly found herself wrong-footed regarding her brother-in-law's 'traveling companion'.

That hope ended up being for naught as Ranma responded to Blackfire's teasing statement by giving her a narrow eye'd look and snarkily offering, "I don't know. Do you like the idea of Kuno being a fan of yours too?" and thrusting a particular photo in front of the dark-haired girl's face.

Blackfire blinked. Then she blinked again as she refocused on a picture that must have been taken during she and Akane's sparring match the other day, showcasing herself hauling back for a haymaker with an ecstatic grin while Akane had her arms up to intercept the blow. Not that it did any good as Blackfire remembered faking the bluenette out and clotheslining her across the chest, but that didn't matter at the moment as she examined the picture with one twitching eye, before slowly looking at Nabiki, who did a very impressive job of looking unafraid in the face of a very pissed off Tamaranean. Rather than tear a few strips off of her, metaphorically and maybe literally, Blackfire smiled and said, "Ohh, _good job_ , Nabiki. This going to make things a lot easier on me."

Akane, Ranma, and Nabiki all blinked and the brunette asked, "What's that supposed to mean?" with a carefully arched eyebrow, while internally running Blackfire's unexpected reaction through her mind at a rapid pace.

"If Kuno's going to be buying pictures of me, it means I can easily earn my keep around here, since I'm exempt from the 'future family member's get free room and board' rule."

Ranma's jaw dropped and he rounded on Nabiki with an outraged, "What!?"

"I volunteered, Ranma." Blackfire waved off her irate friend. "Cause while I don't mind getting a free meal, I don't want to be put in the same category as your old man."

"Oh...that's fair."

"More than fair," Blackfire purred as she smirked at Nabiki. "Since little miss entrepreneur sells her picture's to Kuno for 1000 yen a pop, I'll make hefty chunk of change with my 50% cut of the profits."

3 shouts echoed almost simultaneously at that statement, with Nabiki hollering "50 PERCENT!?" while her sister let out an equally outraged, "1000 YEN!?" And Ranma crying out in shock, "You're going to LET her take more pictures of you!?"

Answering Ranma's question first, Blackfire offered him a small smile and said, "Why not? She did it anyway, and this way, I can control what's in the pictures and make some money off of it. And…" She turned her eyes back on Nabiki, commending the Ice Queen for not flinching as she brought a glow to her eye's, safe from Akane noticing as the bluenette was standing slightly behind her, and Akane's attention was on the older sibling who'd betrayed her trust. "I'm getting 50%, because otherwise, you're going to have to recoup the losses for buying a new camera, every time I find out you've cheated me out of my fair share."

Nabiki's eyes narrowed a slight chill filled the air. "You're threatening me _again_?"

Blackfire's lightshow ended, but her smile didn't crack even as Akane and Ranma both looked at her suspiciously, following Nabiki's particular emphasis on the word 'again'. "Oh, Nabiki. Threats are what somebody gives when they don't intend to follow through on them, and there isn't a doubt in my mind that Akane wouldn't care if I broke a few of your camera's." She side-eye'd the bluenette and grinned evilly. "Or if she wanted to have a little sparring match with you."

Nabiki would never admit to being afraid of anyone or anything, but even she couldn't deny the shot of ice water that ran down her spine as her sister's eyes widened in understanding, and then she turned an equally evil smile on her nee-san. "Why, no, Kurohi-san. I wouldn't mind that _at all_."

( _Bitch_ …) Nabiki mused in a mixture of admiration and anger as she fixed Blackfire with a steely glare. After a few seconds, the brunette growled, "Fine. 500 yen for every picture of you I sell."

"500?" Blackfire repeated with a hint of delight. "Oh, _Tendo-san_ , you think I'm gonna settle for so little? I'm going to see _at **least**_ 1000 yen per picture, and that's only for the regular schmucks." She looked down at Kuno. "If I don't get at least ¥2500 off of _him_ , I'll be shocked."

"What?!" Nabiki's eye twitched. "Even _Kuno_ has limits, and he doesn't even like you! Why would he pay that much for your picture?!"

At that, Blackfire's smile curved in a sultry manner, and Nabiki was reminded of the night before as the dark-haired girl purred, "Because men have a dick and a brain, and only enough blood to run one at a time. And the pictures you're going to sell of me will be guaranteed to make any guy who looks at them think with their _small_ head more than their big one."

A poignant silence descended at that, with Nabiki's eyes slowly widening while Ranma and Akane's faces reddened significantly. "Y-y-you're going to sell pictures of yourself," Akane sputtered in outrage. "Doing _this-and-that_!?"

"If you mean _sex_ , no." Blackfire shot the bluenette a dry look. "Cause believe it or not, I do have _some_ restraint. But more than that, I'm hot, and I know how to drive guys _crazy_."

Ranma felt a flash of gratitude for Blackfire's lessons on minding his words. This was because the urge to agree with her by saying, 'damn right' was promptly dope-smacked by a little mini-version of her, who scowled darkly and pointed at his still angry and embarrassed fianceé. Instead, Ranma scratched the back of his head and gave the dark-haired girl a slightly awkward, unhappy look as he said, "I really don't like that idea, Komie. You shouldn't let guys be seein' your...you know."

Blackfire stilled. And then she slowly turned around, and Ranma realized that he'd simply swapped one foot out of his mouth and replaced it with the other as Blackfire smiled cheerily at him and asked in a voice that was **almost** Kasumi-esque in tone. "Ranma. Are you _telling_ **me** what to do?"

Ranma shook his head so quickly, his pale, drawn face became a blur of motion.

"Good boy."

Akane cocked an eyebrow and looked between Blackfire and Ranma a few times while Nabiki stifled the wide smile threatening to break her cold mask, both sisters sharing the identical thought of, (She has him trained well…)

Sufficiently terrified into obedience, Ranma let the shudders die away before looking at the pictures of himself and frowned. Akane, noticing his expression, asked, "What's wrong?" As she glanced at the picture of Ranma-chan demonstrating her lack of feminine modesty by pulling her shirt off in the middle of the yard. The bluenette's eye twitched at the sight of her father in the background of the photo, doing a spit-take while _not_ turning away from his son/daughter-in-law's bared chest.

"I just don't like the idea of guys **liking** my girlside, you know?" Ranma pursed his lips as he looked down at the unconscious Kuno. " _Especially_ the guys around here…"

The heavy tone of disgust in Ranma's voice gave the bluenette a strange, happy feeling. Like she'd found a comrade-in-arms regarding Kuno and the horde, even as that nagging insecurity regarding her abilities needled her with image after image of Kuno attacking Ranma with a speed she'd never seen before.

"Then again." Ranma looked back at his picture and said, "I don't blame em. My cursed form is probably the hottest girl they've ever seen before."

Nabiki blinked as Blackfire's face fell, the two of them having moved away from the engaged pair to discuss things privately, even as the dark-haired girl deadpanned, "Did he _really_ just say that?"

"Yeah." Nabiki affirmed with a look over Blackfire's shoulder, to where her sister was glaring daggers at her fiancé. "Yeah, he did."

"...we'll finish this up later," Blackfire declared with a growl as she walked past Nabiki and headed back towards school. "Cause I am not helping him."

"Fair enough." The brunette replied as she made to follow her roommate, the two of them ignoring the sudden sounds of pain and violence coming from behind them. As they left the scene however, Nabiki side-eye'd Blackfire and smiled. "There is one upside to this though."

"And that is?"

"Ranma beat Kuno. And this time, there _were_ witnesses."

Blackfire blinked as that thought struck her, and her previously irritated expression morphed into one of almost indecent joy as she crowed, "Ohh _yeah!_ I can't believe I forgot about that!" The dark-haired girl threw her head back and smiled at the sky as she added with a relieved sigh, "Now things are starting to look up."

 **OOOOOO**

 **Author notes**

 **1: Chuunibyou, AKA 2nd year syndrome is something that usually happens in middle-school, or to those with the maturity of middle-schoolers, where they'll act all 'special' and 'unique' and 'mysterious' in edge-lordy ways.** (For example: Lala the Dullahan from "Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou/Daily Life With A Monster Girl" is a/going through Chuunibyou by playing up the _myth_ that Dullahan's are messengers of death...and since the protagonist of DLWaMG remembers acting like that when he was younger, he knows she's fulla shit.)

 **2: My brain is a weird and oftentimes musical place. A song that I consider to be a 'theme' for Blackfire is Feng Shui Engine Remix by MusicMasterKasb.**

 **3: As for Blackfire and Akane's 'relationship', it was one of those situations where it just fit an empty puzzle-piece slot in my head and I ran with it, especially because too many people see Akane's behavior and go 'Spoiled brat' and 'weak' while dismissing her own skills in the Art. She's not a bad fighter, she's just not as good as many of the wrecking crew, and that's a completely different animal. When you throw in the fact that all they do is treat her with kid gloves or dismiss her entirely, well...let's just say a little Fight Club bonding will probably do wonders, eh?**

 **4: While Ranma's dream _sounds_ fairly creepy and dark, I heard something far different and funnier inside my head when Kuno showed up. ** (DBZ Abridged, Episode 10, when Goku and Vegeta had the Garlic Gun/Kamehameha beam struggle)

 **5: Library-Fu. 'Nuff said.**

 **6: I repeat, in certain ways, this seems like I'm sticking to Canon. But next time, the first big shake-up arrives, due to Blackfire having an 'almost' nuclear meltdown.**

Reformations part 4 will hopefully be coming soon, even if college is bending me over a table and making me spell RUN. Please be patient with me, and have faith…

Also, thinking about releasing a few other fics on here that are Ranma related, 1 crossover, 1 not. (plenty of references in the 'not' though.) We'll see what happens...and if I can keep those stories updated on a firm schedule rather than this one where I'm playing grab-ass and catch-up.


End file.
